MAY 2009
have been over the last 17 years. I have to say that I do note with some grave concern that the current financial circumstances may well affect the immediate future of our industry in a rather severe way; of this more later. If I was asked what was the one factor which had affected our indus- try more than anything else in its history, I would have to say that it would be the Department for Transport letter sent in 2005 to local authorities following the OFT report urging all councils to deregulate taxi numbers. The OFT and the Department for Transport both seemed to carry the same view, and that was: lots and lots more taxis out there would make it easier for everybody to go home. I have to say that “every- body” was not supposed to include the taxi drivers, because an awful lot of them have gone home. And gone bankrupt, and had their vehicles repossessed, and are now on benefits. Particularly in rural areas, deregulation trebled the number of taxis trying to get on the rank. And in most cases “the” rank is the oper- ative word, as none of the councils seemed to take into account that perhaps they might have to provide more rank spaces. The private hire trade was dramatically affected as well, because hundreds of drivers left private hire fleets to go and become inde- pendent hackney carriage proprietors. So in some areas we have chaotic situations, with hackney car- riages lining up 90-deep where there should only be 17, parking in loading bays, parking in disabled parking bays, blocking streets, causing traffic chaos... and of course indulging in daily fights with the police, the parking wardens forcing them to move on. And so round and round they drive, adding their carbon footprint firmly in city centres in the enduring best wishes of all those that seek a greener climate. Of course in those areas that didn’t just deregulate but said, Let’s all go wheelchair accessible, the numbers on the ranks are at this moment falling. Wyre Forest, that delimited and brought in an age policy plus wheelchair accessible policy plus colour livery, lost seven hackney vehicles last year, and it looks like they will lose a further 20 taxis this year. It’s not just a question of drivers just not wanting to comply with the wheelchair accessible condition; it is because in the current eco- nomic climate they are finding it impossible to get finance to move up to this type of vehicle. Out of the 377 councils that set hackney
PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY 13
carriage fares, only 76 still impose limits. A list comprising our recent survey on delimitation will be found on page 18, with Salford being the most recent council to delimit, this very week (of press deadline for this issue). The tables are split into three sets – the first is the list of councils that had not deregulated numbers which was sent out in a letter by the DfT to all councils suggesting that they should all deregulate. The next column is a list of those councils that had deregulated by 2007 and the last column is all the remaining councils and what they have done since 2007. These figure coincide with a similar report just issued by the DfT which can be found at
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublica- tions/public/taxiprivate/ All I can say is that the experiences of those councils and the mem- bers of the trade who were first to deregulate should be strongly investigated by any other councils who wish to follow them.......and they will probably find that the results may well be “ don’t do it not recommended!!!!” One thing is certain from the survey that we ran in the last issue of the paper: the average number of hours worked by the majority of people in our trade are between 60 and 80 hours a week. And of the over 300 responses that we have received so far - which believeme, is a very good result - only 13 per cent of those responding said that they were earning more than the national minimum wage. What the next 200 editions of PHTM will cover is anyone’s guess. But if I were a gambling man, I wouldn’t mind betting that the 400th edition coincided with some spurious and ill-conceived consultation about the future of the industry, and how they could possibly affect it. Somehow or other, the industry survives; people are taken where they want to go, the streets are cleared each night of the extra impo- sition of alcohol-weaving welldoers attempting to dress your car with the last half pint of lager, a bucket of curry, the remains of a for- gotten pizza... and you may be able to pay your bills next morning. But whatever else happens, keep up the good work - because with- out you, certainly the nighttime industry of this country would fall apart at the seams. So until next time, and for the next few hundred episodes, sayonara.
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