Moving on, I carried on reading the agenda and came across a proposed new inclusion called ‘Customer and Driver Charter’. I thought this was interesting because I got a ‘Customer and Driver Charter’ put in place here in 2019. So, I started reading it and thought this seems familiar. But it wasn’t just familiar, it was an exact word-for-word copy of the charter that I had written.
I certainly felt quite flattered that Lewes District Council considered my charter to be suitable. However, I did ask if permission from Brighton & Hove City Council was sought first.
I actually received a reply the next day which is astonishing for Lewes, telling me that there will be a consultation with its legal team and I will be contacted in the near future. I’m actually not really bothered too much about it as the charter is in place here and if it can serve others then I am happy for it to be used.
Funny enough, I had the idea of such a charter when I read about it many years ago in PHTM. This goes back to when it was published almost like a broadsheet. I think it was a report on where a charter was put in place somewhere in Australia and thought it was a great idea at the time. However, it did take many years before I decided to suggest having one to the trade and it was then put in place.
If you’re interested in reading the Brighton & Hove Charter for Customers and Drivers then this is the link:
https://tinyurl.com/bhtaxi-charter - feel free to use or adapt.
PENALTY POINTS SYSTEM
Eight years ago when I was a GMB rep for the local taxi section, I fully opposed such a system being put in place and in the end it was never implemented. However, in the ‘Best Practice Guide’ for taxis and private hire vehicles issued in 2022, there is a section on a ‘Points based enforcement system’ and it appears that whilst this remains a guide, more councils are introducing it.
This now includes Brighton & Hove City Council and this was an agenda item on the Trade Forum council meeting in May 2023, which was discussed by the trade reps and caused quite a stir. However, what was
PHTM JULY 2023
presented to us was really just a copy and paste of what is being used by other councils. To be frank, how this was accepted in those terms by those respective trade reps and put through in that form is beyond me.
However, there are two ways of looking at such a system. Those drivers who would be regarded as being professional in their trade would have nothing to be concerned about. But on the other side, and I’m sure this is the same in other areas, there are those drivers, who I’m sure we all know, who put the trade to shame and would probably accumulate enough points to put their licence at risk and should never be driving a cab for a living.
I considered that if Licensing was determined to put a points system in place then it would be better to work with them to produce something that was acceptable. So, a meeting was arranged by Licensing where three of us attended to go through all the clauses where points could be awarded and to give the Licensing Officers the opportunity to go into more depth as to why such a system should be introduced. This was spoken about by LO Alex Evans, who indicated that the vast majority of licensed drivers would never be awarded points on their licences. Additionally, such a system allows for a wider opportunity before the possibility of an automatic suspension or revocation.
Having gone through all the 53 clauses which would award various points to either, and or, the driver, the owner and operator, we were able to clarify any grey areas, which is important should the system be introduced and be in place years down the line to avoid any confusion. We also suggested that some clauses be removed as not being necessary.
So from being a ‘cut & paste’ and quite a grey proposal we think we have produced a better version and a new draft will be drawn up by Licensing. This will be presented to the trade reps for further discussion and voted on before being taken to the Licensing Committee to be endorsed.
But, not surprisingly the whatsit has already hit the fan with drivers now up in arms and threatening to leave the trade since we gave out details of that meeting.
I would imagine the trade reps will throw it out at the next stage, but we did our bit to try and make things better!
63
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
