In January’s PHTM I wrote about our impending 2022 Fare Review and explained that as in other areas, these take a long time to put together and we started the pro- cess in September 2021. I won’t go through the whole details again, but 2019 was that last time we had a fare review and because it takes a very long time things change between initial consultations and the presenta- tion to the Licensing Committee.
AND BOY, HAVE THINGS CHANGED!
On advice from licensing we dumped our historically used ‘Fare Formula’ to go with a straight forward rise along with the CPI to base the review on the inflation rate, or there about. During the period of consultation we settled on the CPI figure of 3.5%. This was lower than what it reached in November at 5.1% when this was presented to the Licensing Chair and the council’s financial and legal departments at a Teams meeting I had with them. This would give us a running mile of £2.50 per mile from the current £2.40. Effectively 10p more per mile. We had also agreed to drop the extra Friday and Saturday late night charges.
However, by the time the documents were due to be presented by licensing to the Licensing Committee on February 17, the predicated rate of inflation had been fore- cast to hit 7% by the Spring of 2022. This meant that all hell broke loose in the trade, but knowing how things work and that we were at a very late stage with licensing having prepared all the information, I contacted good old Martin at licensing who advised that the only way to change this was to get a councillor to put in an amendment. So we contacted Labour and Conservative councillors who thankfully agreed to put forward an amendment for a 5% increase. This would give us £2.60 per mile instead of the original proposal of £2.50 per mile, giving us an increase of on average 20p per mile extra.
Now, we all know that Licensing Committees are made up of elected councillors (bless them) who can range from butchers, bakers, candlestick makers, and driving instruc- tors. But only a few take the time to properly engage with the trade. Thankfully we had Councillor Jackie O’Quinn (Labour) and Councillor Dee Simson (Conservative), who have been extremely good on taking time over the years to get know us with our different characters and quirks. Goodness knows how they have put up with me over the years! Jackie and Dee were the ones presenting the amendment for us. I also have to mention Councillor Lizzie Deane (Green) the Licensing Chair who has also engaged with the trade over the years, so she also knows all about us.
76
We do have regular Trade Forum meetings with licensing and councillors to try and keep that rapport between the council and the trade going, and I have always stated that we are extremely lucky to have a pretty good relationship, especially compared to other areas. However, not all of the councillors on the Licensing Committee are as engaged with the trade as others, and this can then present its own problems. It would be unfair if I specifically mentioned cer- tain names, but I know that it is the same in all other areas where, just by the fluke of legislation, this allows a butcher, baker or driving instructor to be empowered with the abil- ity to make comments and decisions that affect the lives of 1,000+ drivers and their families.
One councillor even suggested setting the fares for twelve months with the intention for a review to lower the fares if the inflation rate goes down. This totally goes against where it has been set in stone for many years in our ‘Blue Book’ that it is the local trade that asks for a review, and usually every two or three years, and not the council! This demonstrates that it is very dangerous where some local councillors sit at various council meetings who have no idea what they are talking about! You can imagine the reaction of the trade reps who were watching the webcast, and decency prohibits me from repeating this in print!
One thing for sure is that having been in the trade for forty years and seeing many councillors come and go during that time; the licensed taxi trade is looked on as being a charity organisation. And I shout from the roof tops “We are NOT a charity!” Nor does the hackney carriage trade take advantage of when a drop a of rain falls and charges double.... nay triple the metered fare. Ok I know we can’t because our hackney rates are controlled by the council, but you know what I mean.
The vote went ahead, and it was really close at 6/5, and we got the amendment for a 5% rise, which means that for the average two-mile journey the rise is 40p. And when look- ing at the massive rise in the cost of fuel, this cannot be considered unreasonable. And again thanks to Jackie and Dee for their support. Let’s see what happens in twelve months time...
CARD READERS
In 2020 a proposal was made to the council by a trade rep, who is not longer in the trade, who put in a proposal to enforce all drivers/cars to have card readers as a condition of licence.
This was not popular with the majority of the trade reps at the time and I will have to say that I was very much against
MARCH 2022
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
