ROUND THE COUNCILS BARROW:
DRIVERS’ FURY AT SUSPENDED POLICY
Taxi drivers say they are “fed up” with council regulations after a new car poli- cy was suspended by town hall chiefs following a backlash from the trade. According to the NW Mail, drivers accused
Barrow
Borough Council of forcing them out of the business by quickly introducing policies they claim- ed could affect them financially. The council’s recent- ly-passed Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Licens- ing Policy has been suspended pending further consultation with drivers.
A regulation involv- ing Euro 5 has proved particularly controversial.
It
means some drivers will have to buy cars newer than 2011 to obtain a licence from the council. The Mail was told one driver bought a car for £3,000 only to discover he could not license it be- cause it did not meet new requirements. He then used the car as a deposit to buy a new car shortly be- fore the policy was suspended. One taxi driver, George Harkin, said: “The consultation was not carried out properly. Two drafts
were not consulted on with the trade. “We have a good taxi service here in Barrow, which also is affordable to our community,
and
these policy changes would have a nega- tive impact.” Cllr Tony Callister, chairman of
the
licensing committee, confirmed the policy had been suspend- ed after concerns were raised about the level of consul- tation with drivers. He said: “ I was con- tacted by a local driver who shared a concern that part of the policy was not agreed upon by the trade.”
Three hundred taxi drivers in South Lakeland are to receive child sexual exploitation aware- ness training. ITV News reports that the compulsory training in spotting the signs of the exploitation of chil- dren and vulnerable adults became man- datory for hackney carriage and private hire drivers in South Lakeland after a rul- ing by councillors. The local authority says it will help drivers spot children and young people who may be vulner- able and understand
how to help keep them safe from potential abusers. The training is being carried out by chil- dren’s charity Bar- nardo’s and Cum- bria Constabulary. Nic Dunn, Children’s Services Manager for Barnardo’s, said: “Children from all backgrounds in all areas of the UK can be susceptible to grooming and ex- ploitation. By im- plementing this CSE awareness training, the council has ensured that hun- dreds of taxi drivers will now know what signs to look out for
SOUTH LAKELAND: DRIVERS JOIN FIGHT TO PROTECT CHILDREN
to spot children who could be vulnerable to
exploitation,
helping to protect them from potential danger. “These taxi drivers can act as eyes and ears in the commu- nity, especially dur- ing the night-time when people’s act- ions may not be as visible to others. “We would like all night-time workers to be aware of the dangers – they are part of the solution and can play an active role in work- ing together with authorities to help tackle this issue.”
SHETLAND:
Taxi fares could be set to increase after councillors recom- mended new tariffs for the local taxi industry. According to the Shetland
members of environment
Times, the and
transport committee unanimously backed the proposals at a meeting last month. The new fares will be introduced on 14th June once approved by the council’s policy and resources commit- tee. The changes would see the cost of a 20- mile journey rise from £38.45 to £42.20. Councillors heard that the proposed changes were the result of consulta-
14
TAXI DRIVERS PROPOSE FARE INCREASE somewhere
tion with the indus- try, with taxi drivers feeling “the tariffs should rise to take account of rises in fuel [and] running costs”, said trans- port policy officer Robina Barton. Tariff one would rise to £4.00 for the first 0.7 of a mile and 20p for every addi- tional 0.1 of a mile thereafter
– an
increase of 20p per mile. Tariff two would rise from £4.00 to £4.50, with the cost for additional dis- tance thereafter re- maining the same. Shetland taxi rates currently rank 136th out of 359 British licensing authorities in terms of expense. The new fares would see the isles rise to
bet-
ween 49th and 63rd. Festive rates would increase by 60p and 30p per mile for the daytime and over- night fares respec- tively. An extension of six hours to the holiday
period
would see passen- gers charged festive rates for journeys made after midnight but before 6am on the day after the increased fares end. A further change is the proposed intro- duction
of an
excursion rate for private tours. These charges would be set at £45 per hour for cars holding up to four passengers and £50 per hour for vehicles holding up to eight passen- gers.
MARCH 2019
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