NPHTA NEWS AND VIEWS BUSY AS ALWAYS


Protection Must Work Both Ways


What a month it has been for us all here at the National Private Hire and Taxi Association!


PHTMEXPO


NPHTA exhibited at the expo again this year which was a huge success. Thank you to our members, old and new, for your attendance. We enjoyed meeting you face to face, answering your questions relating to all things licensing, including: tinted windows, protected offences, oversees records checks, age limits of vehicles, CCTV, amalgamation or joining together of local authorities, consultations and a whole series of other topics.


Many of you renewed your membership on the day, many others joined up too - so thank you all for your continued and unwavering support.


We also hosted a Q&A seminar with panellists from the Department for Transport, Institute of Licensing, GMB Union and others, where we opened the floor to attendees to ask questions and seek answers from those in the know.


There was also a great turnout from other trade suppliers and stakeholders too. A fantastic event as always and a pleasure to be a part of every year.


AFTER THE SHOW – LIFE GOES ON


We now move on to other aspects of support for our members and our trade including: the increasing number of attacks on our drivers; delays in processing of licences; responding to council consultations across the UK, including the latest consultation on taxi and private hire licensing for the Welsh Government; as well as liaison meetings across various regions - it simply never stops!


OPERATION MAKESAFE


I was delighted to be invited by Lancashire police to attend the launch of Operation Makesafe at Preston on 24 May, where I expressed the association’s concerns around anonymity for drivers who are acting within their remit in protecting children from abuse, grooming and exploitation, by reporting their suspicions.


76


I pointed out that there have been instances where such reporting has led to parents visiting the home address of drivers, angry at their suggestion or suspicion. This simply cannot happen. More emphasis should be given on making it abundantly clear that such reports are aimed at protecting children and that such concerns should be welcomed and appreciated. After all, what if the fears were genuine and a child had been groomed or kidnapped, surely the parent would be grateful of an alert being raised?


Public Perception – The New Name


I also highlighted that removing the term “child sexual exploitation training” and replacing it with the term “safeguarding” was welcomed, but the new term “Operation MakeSafe” is far better and is a phrase which we as a trade welcome with open arms. There was more


detail contained within the


presentation, including testimonials from victims, and operational discussions with the fire service, the hotel sector, police, trams, trains, takeaways etc, but I have no intention of transcribing all of it here as it is simply not necessary.


Taxi And PH Go Where Others Fear To Tread We are the eyes and ears on the street!


Taxi and PH services are often used by offenders. Our drivers may en- counter situations other sectors never see. With offenders travelling from house to house, hotels or take aways, they may never use buses or public transport. So, we stand ready and willing to get behind this scheme and fully support it BUT we also need more support as an industry from the police.


This is our opportunity to work hand in hand with the police, in partnership with a view to protecting the next generation from such atrocious abuse, let us help to make this stop, full stop!


JUNE 2023 PHTM


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  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88