FARES AND FEES...FARES
OMBUDSMAN ASKED TO LOOK AT GUILDFORD LICENCE FEES
The Government regu- lator has been called on to investigate the fees charged for taxi licences in Guildford. The secretary of the Guildford Hackney Association (GHA) has written to the Local Government Ombuds- man to settle a long-running dispute. Drivers claim the council’s licensing department does not have a formula to cal- culate the fees and they are subsidising other areas of the department.
Mark Rostron, vice- chairman and secret- ary of the GHA, told the Surrey Advertiser: “Basically drivers feel they are being over- charged for the taxi licences - for drivers’ and vehicle licences.
“When this issue was first raised three years ago by the district auditor, he told the council to keep better records and use them to calculate the fees properly.”
In May Mr Rostron wrote to the House of Commons Transport Committee that the council has been ‘ille- gally profiting for years’ from the issuance of licences. Following further meetings with council officers, the dispute has not been resolved and Mr Rostron has written to the ombuds- man to investigate the complaint that the council has failed to comply with legisla- tion and that taxi and private hire operators have suffered financial
loss.
A spokesman for Guildford Borough Council said: “Since the report three years ago we have been audited four times, most recently in Sep- tember. Each time they have been satisfied we are keeping proper records, calculating fees correctly and have acted on any rec- ommendations they made. “We have had meet- ings with the association, explained the process and pro- vided them with information. We have also offered them the opportunity to go through the process for calculating fees. The council is satisfied it has been fair and transparent.”
COMMITTEE BACKS DUNDEE TAXI FARE CHANGES
Taxi fares in Dundee will rise by 4p on most tariffs, 6p during the festive period and there will also be an addition- al £1 charge for credit card transactions. According to the Courier, the changes,
which equate to an extra 10p per mile, were approved by Dundee City Council’s licensing committee as part of its annual review of taxi fares. Credit card payments had been a long-run-
ning issue and the £1 surcharge per journey was agreed based on the average cost of transactions.
The proposals will now be advertised and, sub- ject to objections, will take effect from 1 April.
REPAYMENTS DUE FOR TAUNTON DEANE TRADE
Hackney carriage and PHV owners could get refunds of £50 per cab after it emerged that Taunton Deane Coun- cil profited from the system, which is con- trary to the rules. The error, which will cost the council £9,500, will result in repayments of £20 per licence for the year to April 2012 and £31.20 for the following 12
months. A1 Ace Taxis director Mike Davis said he was delighted the council had agreed to address the issue fol- lowing discussions in which he was involved. He told the Somerset County Gazette: “It is a legal requirement that licensing fees are set to recoup cost at most, but must not be set at a rate to profit from the
administration of licences.”
Deane executive Cllr Ken Hayward said: “We had to go back through everything and establish how we cost our services. We established we were overcharging a little. “It’s been resolved amicably and taxi operators are going to see some refunds to redress the balance.”
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