ROUNDTHE COUNCILS WORCESTER:
NORTH LINCS: NEWRULESTOTACKLETAXINUMBERS
New rules governing taxi drivers are coming into force in Worcester - following concern the over the number of cabs. The number of taxis licensed on city streets has hit 288, an 18 per cent surge in just one year. Worcester City Coun- cil has revealed plans to try and manage it - and from the autumn will only be accepting applications from driv- ers with new vehicles. At the moment people can ask for a licence as long as the vehicle is under three years old, as opposed to a new one which can cost anywhere from £17,000 to £30,000. The ruling would also apply to current taxi drivers with vehicles where the age
limits expire, which is set at ten or 12 years depending on the model. Cllr Paul Denham, the chairman,
told the
Worcester News: “The whole purpose of this is to achieve a reduc- tion
in hackney
carriages - they are clogging up the city at all times of day and night, it seems.” There are 229 hackney carriages licensed in Worcester and 59 PHVs, with a council report warning their numbers have spiralled to “unprecedented” lev- els. Under the new rules, which are subject to a 12-week consulta- tion, new incentives will also be introduced to encourage more of them to switch to PHVs. The age limit of PHVs
is being increased from eight years to ten, and a £50 fee for each car scrapped. The council has refused to put an actual cap on overall numbers due to fears it could face legal challenges from irate drivers. An unmet demand survey has been
ruled out
because of costs. The new changes will need to be voted on by full council by November once the licensing committee has looked at the con- sultation feedback. The report even warns that the policy might result in a rush of appli- cations from would-be drivers trying to beat the autumn deadline, but councillors hope it will cull the overall number in the long run.
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www.taxi-logistics.co.uk PAGE 36 CABBIES STRUGGLETOACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE
Rookie taxi drivers in Scunthorpe are strug- gling in their bid to gain The Knowledge, it has been revealed. Since 2009, applicants for new hackney licences have had to pass an hour-long test to prove their knowl- edge of local routes, the law and driving skills before they are given badges. A council spokes- woman told thisis scunthorpe:
Knowledge test
“The for
hackney carriage driv- ers is split into three parts – local routes (part one), legislation (part two) and road craft (part three). “Seventy people have completed the test
since it was intro- duced in June 2002. Applicants have to pay an initial fee of £27.50 and can have up to three retests. They can pay the same again if they didn’t manage to pass in order to take the test again.” The exam-setters have revealed that 55 candi- dates passed the road craft section at the first attempt. But when it came to the knowl- edge of local routes, only 14 passed the first time – and one sitter had five more attempts before passing. Only 12 passed the law sec- tion first time – and it took one candidate seven attempts. The Knowledge came
BOLTON:
Taxi drivers in Bolton have condemned what they claim are harsh new measures to test the safety and stan- dards of taxis. Some operators are claiming that cars are failing MoTs
“minor” reasons, leav- ing them off the road with potential financial implications - but Bolton Council has strongly rejected the claims. Earlier this year the council
new rules for the test- ing
of
carriages and PHVs with what bosses said were “more robust measures for identify- ing and suspending vehicles with serious defects”. The move followed news that almost half of all taxis stopped in snap inspections in Bolton last year were suspended from carry- ing passengers for breaking council rules. Simon Regan, opera- tor of Jenon Travel in
ANGEROVERCHANGETOTAXITESTS proved
for
Kentmere Road, said: “There is definitely an overreaction. Some of the reasons they are failing cars are pathet- ic - things like a few scratches and having stickers in the wrong place can leave a car off the road, or a bulb going out, which can happen at any time. “Once you’ve sorted the MoT, it takes three working days
to
introduced hackney
process a licence which turns into five with a weekend - that’s a lot of time off the road. It meant I was off the road from Friday to Tuesday which may have cost me up to £700 in trade.” A Bolton Council spokesman said: “We have a legal duty to ensure that taxis are roadworthy and are fit for purpose. However, we do not take taxis off the road solely for minor defects such as scratches and dam- aged labels or signs.” She added: “Only Bolton Council ap-
garages
achieving the VOSA green rating are able to carry out taxi MoTs and this system has been developed in consultations with VOSA and taxi trade representatives.” Mmmm… Licence holders who were working in Bolton around 16 years ago may remember an Ombudsman’s report concerning the dra- conian testing regime of Bolton Council back then; the complaint was upheld success- fully
and every
licensed driver was refunded money from the council. It may behove those current licence holders in Bolton who are of a like mind about this issue, to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman - but you will have to be in a posi- tion to quantify your financial losses, other- wise the complaint will not be entertained. Think on… - Ed.
PHTM JULY 2013
as a result of demands by North Lincolnshire taxi operators
to
restrict the issue of licences with a view to stopping out-of-town cabbies stealing trade. Kuljinder Juj,
the
chairman of the Scun- thorpe and District Taxi Association, said: “The number of first and second failures is good news and proves the tests are effective. The Knowledge is a deterrent to cowboy operators. It is also improving quality of service. “The number of unli- censed operators in the town has gone down since The Knowledge was intro- duced.”
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