NIGHT TIME ON THE STREETS OF LIVERP
On the evening of Saturday 7 December, PHTM did what we’ve been advocating local councillors to do all over the country for ages: we went out on an enforcement exercise around Liverpool with two enforcement officers from Liverpool City Council, Derek Hughes and Stuart Seeley. Your intrepid reporters were PHTM editor Donna Short and publisher Graham Burns. We were taken around the city to share the experiences of some of their normal routine by officers Derek and Stuart, who between them have nearly 30 years of on-street enforcement experience. And did it show! “Eyes like a hawk” describe these two down to the ground; they didn’t miss a trick.
Donna flanked by Stuart and Derek
So here we were, going round the streets of Liverpool on a cold, rainy Saturday night. We started off at the famous Lime Street railway station, parked their unmarked electric/hybrid car to one side and got down to work. Derek and Stuart wear hi-viz jackets that quite clearly say “Licensing”, so doesn’t that make drivers scarper when they see them?
We asked if they believe there are enough taxis and PHVs in the city. They seemed to think so: with 1,426 hackney carriages and 1,979 private hire vehicles, there is ample supply – which of course is topped up by the innumerable PHVs coming in from other areas.
HONEY POT FOR DRIVERS Derek and Stuart patrolling around Lime Street Station
“No, not really,” Stuart assures us. “We have a good rapport with the drivers.” Derek agrees: “The bad ones are usually the ones who give us any stick, or disappear… for the most part our drivers are doing it right, and they approve of what we’re doing to get rid of the bad guys.” One hackney driver attracted their attention, as he was loading a wheelchair passenger. Whilst he did this manoeuvre correctly, he neglected to use restraining straps to secure the passenger.
It turns
out that the straps were buried in his boot, underneath the spare tyre, jack, and all the other paraphernalia back there. So it was patently obvious he hadn’t been using the restraining straps very often, if at all. He got a written warning, and a request that he attend a refresher course on disability training. Actually where we were situated isn’t a formal “rank”, but rather a pull-in area for all vehicles dropping off or picking up at the station, so it can become quite crowded at times. This was puzzling; why was the proper rank outside, and some distance away from the station entrance? Down to the station management, I guess… But this location was certainly busy, with passengers queuing for the 20 minutes or so we were there.
Just two enforcement officers cover over 3,400 vehicles licensed by Liverpool
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As we headed off around the city centre, there was ample time to chat with Derek and Stuart about their work and how they approach their enforcement duties. What was a totally astonishing revelation was that these two enforcement officers are the only on-street personnel employed by the council; for a city the size of Liverpool, a council that is one of the most pro-active in the country as regards enforcement, this was quite a surprise. Derek did advise us that they have six apprentice officers being trained at the present time… thankfully, as Derek and Stuart currently work long shifts, usually 11pm to 6am, and could well do with the backup. Of course Derek reminded us that, as they are not police officers, they have no power to stop moving vehicles. So what they have to do, certainly whilst driving around the city, is to pull up alongside a vehicle which they believe may be faulty or incorrectly displaying signage etc, and advise the driver of a potential offence. This is in addition to random checks they are always undertaking at prime locations, such as the next venue at which we stopped – a very popular venue for music events, the Steel Yard. These concert venues are obvious targets for drivers both from Liverpool and outlying areas to head for, and having parked outside the entrance, it didn’t take long for these officers to spot a parked Knowsley private hire vehicle on which the licence plate was incorrectly affixed. Just how they did this, through a closed window in the pouring rain, pitch dark, some 20 feet away on the opposite side of the road, was quite amazing… but when they went to investigate, sure enough the plate blew upwards and they issued the driver with a warning: a seven-day notice to rectify the fault and have the vehicle checked, either in Liverpool or Knowsley. I remarked that surely they couldn’t enforce against out- of-area vehicles; they said that indeed they can: they have an accord with Knowsley Council and notify that council of any offending vehicle activity within Liverpool – and vice versa. Now you’re talking. Do they believe all this cross-border activity to be OK? As Derek said, “We know it goes on all the time… but it’s morally wrong for drivers to be working exclusively outside their district.”
Blowing in the wind –a poorly affixed licence plate
NEXT STOP: SEEL STREET
Seel Street is right in the city centre, and a popular area for young people due to the large number of nighttime entertainment venues here. On arriving, and before pulling over to stop, Derek and Stuart moved on four private hire vehicles whose drivers they believe were ‘loitering’… aka illegally plying for hire. Of course this is quite common in most towns and cities, Liverpool being no exception. Casual one- offs are just moved on; repeated offenders are issued a warning.
JANUARY 2020
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