...COUNCILS AYLESBURY:


Taxi drivers will have to pay increased fines for missing their licensing appointments.


PAYING THE PRICE FOR MISSING APPOINTMENTS process.


A total of 416 tests at the council garages were missed during the past year with no excuse or advanced warning provided. These slots could have been used by other members of the trade had the correct cancellation proce-


dures been followed. In a meeting of Ayles- bury Vale District Council’s licensing committee last month, bosses agreed to charge taxi drivers £75 for each missed appointment.


The garage on Pem- broke Road can only cater for five tests per day so even a single missed test slows down the whole


Cllr Jackie Phipps told the Bucks Herald: “Why should we sub- sidise people who are irresponsible? The council is beginning to be affected by hard times and we need to collect the money we are owed.”


The council appoint- ments can be cancelled for no charge up to 24 hours before.


EAST HERTS: CABBIES URGED TO SIGN UP TO REPORT CRIME


Taxi and bus drivers in East Herts have been urged to help police fight crime by joining a reporting scheme. Last month, Herts police launched Transport Watch, which enables drivers to report criminal activity and anti-social behaviour in their vehicles.


All reports will go through the force’s Online Watch Link (OWL) database and help paint a picture of


crime trends on public transport.


It will help officers warn drivers about problem passengers and areas or address- es that may be unsafe to visit. Police hope it will also help trace missing people. It is hoped all bus and taxi firms in Hertford- shire will sign up. So far, more than 90 cab firms and 15 bus com- panies have joined. David Aylett, project officer for Neighbour-


hood Watch, told the Hertfordshire Mercury: “I would like to encourage any com- panies which haven’t yet signed up to do so and help us beat crime together.” A Transport Watch scheme for bus and taxi passengers is due to launch later this year. To sign up, see www.owI.co.uk or call East Herts co-ordina- tor Jill Dockley on 01438 757379.


SHROPSHIRE: COUNCIL BACKS DOWN AS ZONES STAY


Shropshire licensing chiefs have backed down over a proposed shake-up of taxi zones in the county which included the introduc- tion of a single fare tariff, after a huge protest by drivers. Officials at Shropshire Council said they had abandoned plans to bring in a unified fare structure and overhaul licences of all hackney carriages in the coun- ty.


The council had planned to repeal the byelaws on zoning and create one zone following a move to a unitary authority, with a single rate card pro-


JULY 2011 PHTM


posed for the county. But it has now decided to stick to the current five zones based on the old borough dis- tricts of Bridgnorth, North Shropshire, Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Atcham and South Shropshire. Taxi drivers in Shrews- bury celebrated the move and claimed it had prevented fares from rocketing by up to 300 per cent.


The move followed an angry protest involv- ing about 200 taxi drivers on the streets of Shrewsbury in Jan- uary in a show of unity against the de-zoning plans. The drivers


honked their horns and followed each other in a convoy of vehicles as they car- ried out a double loop of the town before arriving at the Shire- hall.


Councillor Rosanna Taylor-Smith, chair- man of the council’s strategic licensing committee, said the authority had received hundreds of views during the consulta- tion.


She told the Shrop- shire Star: “In response to extensive consultation, Shrop- shire’s taxi zones are to be retained for the present time.”


DENBIGHSHIRE: TRADE AT LOGGERHEADS ABOUT MISSING REGS


Taxi drivers have blast- ed a council’s double standards after failing to update their regula- tion books on time. Cabbies lashed out after new licensing rules were approved by Denbighshire Council almost two months ago, but they are yet to receive copies.


The Denbighshire Licensed Taxi Trade Association said the delay follows 12 months of re-drafting the rules.


Clive Ball from the Taxi Trade Association told the South Wales Post: “It is ludicrous that we are being hauled over the coals for breach- ing conditions of licence, yet we haven’t


seen the new condi- tions. Is this even legal?”


Dave Hornby, a taxi driver from Rhyl, added: “There is a rule that we must have a copy of the conditions in the taxi at all times. If a passenger want- ed to see the conditions to check a driver was acting properly, what would we do?”


Drivers say the licens- ing department has been asked when the taxi trade will see the new rules and have been told they can come and collect copies in person. But Chris Smith, acting chair of the associa- tion, said: “The council would be quick


enough to punish us if any of our paperwork was out of date.” A spokesman for Den- bighshire County Council said: “The suggestion that taxi drivers are working without regulations is misleading and is not the case.


“Certain changes have recently been made following consultation and then ratification by the Licensing Commit- tee. The Council informed all operators of the changes via a newsletter.


“All taxi drivers should continue to follow the blue book regulations and the amendments sent to them until the new version is avail- able.”


CAMBRIDGE: DRIVERS FUME AT CARBON LINK FOR LICENCE FEE


Licensing chiefs have pledged to listen to taxi drivers’ concerns as they prepare to push ahead with con- troversial plans to link permit charges to car- bon emissions.


More than 250 taxi drivers with the most polluting vehicles in Cambridge face hav- ing to pay more to get their annual authorisa- tion under the proposed scheme, while around 190 driv- ing environmentally friendly cars would get discounts.


Thirty drivers would stay on the current rale of £195.


The city council was set to launch a consul- tation on the plans and has reined in the poten- tial top level charges since they were first mooted last year. Instead of maximum discounts and sur- charges of 50 per cent and 60 per cent respectively, the limits would he 35 per cent


and 15 per cent. But taxi drivers remain uncertain and private hire drivers could opt to register with a neighbouring authori- ty if they oppose the system.


David Wratten, a director of Cambridge City Licensed Taxis, said one problem was that while all new hackney carriage licensees must run a vehicle which is accessible for wheel- chair users, there were few green options for this cate- gory on the market. There have also been calls for the scheme to be phased in to avoid penalising drivers who have recently bought a new vehicle unaware of the plans. Mr Wrat- ten said a more pressing concern should be reducing pollution from buses. These are responsible for 44 per cent of city centre emissions, compared to taxis on


three per cent.


Mr Wratten told the Cambridge News: “I’m all in favour of greener vehicles, when they come along and are practical.


“There are a lot more buses pushing out a lot more emissions than we are.”


The issue was to be considered by the council’s licensing committee Chairman, Councillor Julie Smith, who said: “I think we need to look at ways of creating a transitional arrange- ment.


“It’s very much out for consultation and that gives us scope to ensure we have a poli- cy that works for the trade and also for all types of users.”


If all of Cambridge’s 500 hackney carriages and private hire vehi- cles moved up one emission band, 250,000kg of carbon dioxide would be cut from the city’s output.


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