FARES AND FEES


CARDIFF CABBIES FURIOUS OVER HIKE TO LICENCE FEES


Cardiff cabbies react- ed furiously last month after seeing annual licence fees hiked to £313 - more than taxi drivers in London pay. The increase was voted for by Cardiff Council’s public pro- tection committee at County Hall in front of dozens of angry drivers in the public gallery. Cardiff’s hackney driv- ers currently pay £230 annually but a review by the council’s head of regulatory and sup- port services Dave Holand told the com- mittee that legally they could charge them £442. Eventually they back- ed a proposal modify- ing that figure after drivers said they were struggling to put food on the table. From July 1 the annual vehicles


grant will now cost £313 while annual renewal is £303. Abdi Ahmed, chair- man of the Union of Taxi Drivers, had earli- er pleaded with the committee to put the proposals “in the bin”. He said: “We are being persecuted by the council and it’s not fair. We are not in a position to cover the wages and costs of the council because of cuts elsewhere.” Meanwhile, the licence fee for PHVs is to drop from £230 to £104. The council claims the increases for hackney carriage drivers is to cover the costs of council-funded taxi marshals. The committee back- ed a proposal by Cllr Lyn Hudson to make them pick up 50 per


cent of the cost. She said: “We have to set the fees for the fol- lowing year. We can see whether or not we can meet our criteria of being self-funded, give it back in a year and set fees lower for the next year.” Cllr Ed Bridge had proposed a licence fee without any marshals costs included until it could be established exactly how much marshals’ work affect- ed hackney carriages. Afterwards, he said: “I think they have been given a raw deal as we are charging them without knowing if the marshals are con- tributing to what drivers receive in return. “Until we have done the work, we can’t say what’s a fair amount.”


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Gedling Borough


Council is to increase the cost of taxi li- cences. According to the Not- tingham Post,


the


council’s Environment and Licensing Com- mittee was


ex-


pected to approve the new fees at a meeting last month. The cost of vehicle licences will rise from £83 to £88 while driv- ers’


licences will


GEDLING TO INCREASE COST OF TAXI LICENCES cil


increase from £77 to £82 for a first applica- tion and renewals will go up to £65.50 from £60.50. The


council has


received one objection to the plans, but has said the fees need to be increased to cover increased costs from employing staff to deal with increased work- loads. Mmmm… Now there’s a surprise. So the coun-


is now issuing


licences for, and having to test, some tenfold numbers of vehicles compared to a year/18 months ago. It’s no wonder


they need


more staff, somehow… The fee hike isn’t huge, but it’s the principle behind it. Why should the existing trade mem- bers who work in Gedling pay for all those who do not? Just wondering… - Ed.


SOUTH STAFFS LICENCES RISE TO BE FIRST IN FIVE YEARS


Licence fees for more than 150 taxis in South Staffordshire are to rise for the first time in five years, it has been announced. The district council says it has been forced to put up prices because of a rise in the cost of garage test fees


and DVLA


checks. But taxi drivers have said they were object-


ing to the increase. There are 148 PHVs in the area and three hackney carriages. According to the Express and Star, Cllr Roy Moreton, chair- man of the council’s licensing


com-


mittee, said: “For the first time in five years taxi fees for vehicles up to five years old have been increased from £230 to £250 per


year. Drivers will go from £110 to £120 for a two-year licence, and operators from £200 per licence to £220 per licence. Fees for vehicles between five and ten years old will rise from £260 to £295.” The fees would come into operation on June 17 unless any objec- tions were made by June 14.


SKEGNESS DRIVERS CRITICAL OF COUNCIL’S ‘STEALTH TAX’


East Lindsey District Council’s General Licensing Committee is making a number of changes as part of a review. One of


the


main changes is the introduction of a £30 administration cost every time a taxi pro- prietor changes their vehicle during the cur- rency of their licence. According to thisislin- colnshire the charge was objected to by the Skegness Taxi Owners Association (STOA). Chairman


Blackburn said: “The introduction of a charge of £30 to change over a vehicle is just another excuse to extract more money from the taxi trade. It is simply not fair to make


us pay for this service as we have never paid it in the past.” Cllr Julia Pears agreed that no charge should be introduced. She said: “If


they are Darrell


improving their vehi- cles then surely that is for the good. I person- ally do not think we should charge them this new charge in this current financial situa- tion.” But the other council- lors disagreed and voted to introduce the administration charge from July 8. The council also set the new maximum fare structure for hackney carriages. The STOA claimed these new rates set could not be calibrated into a


taximeter and they wished their own fares for distance to be adopted. Mr Twiddy said he had sought advice from three taximeter calibration companies who said there was no issue with the council’s rates. The new daytime tariffs which comes into force from June 25 are £5.90 for two miles (presently £5.60), £7.50 for three miles (£7.40) and £9.30 for four miles (£9). Other changes intro- duced


by committee the include


changing the night time rate to start at 11pm instead of 11.30pm and increas- ing the maximum soiling charge from £50 to £60.


PHTM JULY 2013


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