DISCONTENTED AND DISAPPOINTED!
Licensing Committee it has been clear to me for some time that consultation on these pro- posals was not good enough and it would lead to real issues with members of the taxi and private hire trade. I tried to raise the lack of meaningful consultation on several occa- sions without success and recommended putting a stay on the new policy until proper consultation could take place.”
Mike Utting, Company Chairman of Stream- line Telecabs, raised these points: “So the next question might be ‘Well how did this get through the Committee and Executive Board?’ Councillors and officers on the Exec- utive Board and in Committee need to trust officers in what is in front of them, their expertise and what it all means. Well we weren’t there, but a very exasperated Taxi Association and Unite the Union, were and they were powerless to speak and impress upon the councillors the immense damage the licensing lfficers report could cause to the trades and the integrity of the Council’s con- sultation and decision making processes – and the proof of the pudding has certainly hit them hard with trade protests over the past few weeks leading to the suspension of the implementation of the penalty points issue.
“Councillors, whatever you may have believed or interpreted from the council report submitted to you, or how it might have been explained – These are NOT national standards. They carry NO LEGAL AUTHORITY. The Institute of Licensing has no legislative powers – their proposals are not supported by the DfT. You are responsi- ble to your constituents and your licence holders – not the whim of the IoL.
“The trade feel there is worse to come for the council but unfortunately the pain will fall on those officers lower down the payroll who have to go to court to defend the policy when it is challenged. Our advice [is to] go back to where you were – it has served you well. Well done Cllr Carter for the conciliato- ry tone, we know it won’t have been easy but let’s hope your words will be heard much further afield.
“This unpopular policy has not only gal- vanised the private hire and hackney carriage trade in Leeds, but has also had the same galvanising effect across West Yorkshire and York. The policy has clearly caused the whole trade serious concerns. Also the distinct lack of proper consultation is very worrying. It has obviously caused councillors worries.”
PHTM was also supplied a comment from Unite the Union Leeds branch: “From Unite’s perspective we stand in solidarity with all who seek to bring justice against this com- pletely unnecessary policy; a policy that has
MARCH 2020
Drivers demonstrating outside Leeds Civic Hall in January
the ambition to remove hard working drivers of both camps from the road for the slightest infraction, be it a minor road traffic offence or anything else. It brings into ques- tion the element of ‘discretion’ that we know largely is based on whether your face fits or whether you can shout loud enough and cause trouble.
“Unite cannot and do not accept the policy at all in any guise or form and to that end, our legal team have begun the investigative work and have already spoken with the licensing manager to hear his views. I can say that they share the same concerns that we do and have already intimated that this may lead to a legal challenge as was men- tioned to the councillors at the meeting on January 28th.
“Unite will be watching very closely the actions of those councillors it supports and if this continues, our branch will be calling for support for those councillors to be with- drawn by Unite fully in the forthcoming local elections.
“It is correct to say that the Institute of Licensing put this forward as a ‘recommenda- tion’ to local authorities, but local authorities have a duty to consult fully and correctly with all interested and specialist parties. Leeds City Council did not do this and they were fired a warning shot by Unite at the meeting as mentioned on January 28th.
“In short, this framework is sadly being adopted across the United Kingdom in a bid to create national minimum standards, but the reality is that while Unite welcomes national minimum standards, it also does not welcome draconian policies that seek to satisfy companies that would seek to increase their foothold in the UK, given their current status with TfL.
“These policies are being [adopted] nation- wide and it has to be said, not at all similar from area to area. They have to be chal- lenged because doing nothing and wearing a shirt of apathy will bring the one thing that
the taxi and private hire trade do not want – their untimely demise!”
Throughout these proceedings PHTM has been in regular contact with Ahmad Hus- sain, chair of the Leeds Private Hire Drivers Organisation – which is now affiliated with the NPHTA.
Mr Hussain once again summarised the sheer frustration being experienced by the licence holders of Leeds, in that they have done so much work already – and made their feelings known to the council via the vast demonstrations and the 2,500-signa- ture petition against the policy – and yet “we’re no wiser than we were before. We’re disgusted with the outcome.”
Why is that?
“Because whilst they’ve delayed the six- point revocation threshold of the policy, we don’t know if the rest of the policy package is going ahead. We have grave misgivings about many of the other aspects of the poli- cy, and yet it is unclear as to which elements of the policy will still be put through.
“Our petition objected to the entire policy – not just the six-point part of it. Yet there have been meetings and meetings, with no outcome. The council is simply not being straight with us.
“Cllr Kevin Ritchie has told us that the coun- cil will be responding ‘in due course’… but we have no idea what time frame that means. Quite honestly some of the council- lors are not being transparent. How can they be considered ‘fit and proper’ themselves?”
It is clear from the reaction of the drivers, the unions and some of the councillors that the situation in Leeds is far from satisfactory. What has yet to be determined is: who will be on the working group that takes these discussions forward; which elements of the proposed policy changes will ultimately be ratified; and when will those changes affect the trade.
Bear in mind that this current debate involves the suitability of taxi and private hire drivers in Leeds. In the near future those same drivers also have to face the possibility of paying Clean Air Zone charges, or changing their vehicles; finding out if there is any subsidy available for the purchase or lease of new eco-friendly vehi- cles; finding out if there are sufficient (or any) rapid charging points available for electric taxis/PHVs… and so it goes on.
It is no wonder feelings are running high amongst the trade in Leeds.
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