Andy Peters Brighton & Hove Cab Trade Association
info@bhcta.co.uk www.bhcta.co.uk
The pain
I had just finished work and the pain was really bad, and as I stood by the side of my taxi it became excruciating.
Yep, filling up has now become just like that with watching the pump counter whizzing round like a one- armed bandit, which for all intentions and purposes is what these have become by putting more and more in and getting less and less out.
In some areas the trade is asking for an emergency fuel extra to be added to the meter. The only issue with this, as with any fare review, is the time it takes for this to be approved such is the process for the hackney trade. This is unlike the supermarkets and the likes that can change prices to suit at any time, whereas our trade has to go cap in hand to our councils . Even then we all get the usual: “Fares must be affordable for old Mrs Jones to be able to afford to go to her doctor” and so on, to the extent we’re looked upon as running a charity service.
Don’t get me wrong, I fully support this process, so that fares are controlled because we are not Uber, where prices can surge on a whim where demand is high. Unfortunately, the process is such that it can take three months or so from negotiation to council scrutiny, then approval to advertising for objections to implementation.
The point on the public having the ability to object is quite laughable really because this actually means that the likes of say a corner shop owner who decides how much a can of baked beans will cost is able to have input on what a cab driver can charge.
We can actually take this further because we are also reliant on local councillors, bless them, who can even be that corner shop owner, because in reality we can have tinkers, tailors and candlestick makers all sitting around a table making decisions on whether we make a profit… or not. I have been to those meetings where a councillor has objected to a fare increase and you sit back and you think…well I’m not going to state what I think. I remember from many years ago a specific councillor, now long gone, who was very high up in his profession, not even being able to work out a simple percentage thinking that 1p was 10% of £1. Even asking why the meter doesn’t start from zero and why doesn’t it go up in pennies!
66
In the PHTMNational Fares League we are currently at position 36 - usually we’re hovering in the top ten or so and we are in the so-called affluent south. The issue is, and has been since Uber arrived here, do we put our fares up? Especially where we are still seeing predatory pricing and unbelievable cut price jobs that Uber drivers seem willing to undertake. It’s the conundrum where in order to make the job viable the income has to be greater than the outgoings. It certainly isn’t: “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness.”
It also relates to the number of hours you have to do. Don’t get me wrong, I know that being self-employed is miles away from being in a 9 to 5 job with holiday and sick pay and all that, but as I stated, in our trade we have to go cap in hand to justify our fares.
Standards
Having been in the trade so long, I consider myself to be a professional driver with high standards, plus with over 40 years of taxi driving, I’ve had one accident 36 years ago where I T-Boned a Ford Fiesta that shot out across the road and across my path. I’m also pleased to say a lot of my customers praise my driving as they get out saying: “Thank goodness we’ve arrived..” or similar.
Anyway, I do despair at some of the unprofessional driving standards of licensed drivers that I see here, which I have to state are mainly from out-of-town drivers with earphones plugged into the Uber satnav that is giving them directions. So, I was not surprised to receive a photo of a Chichester PHV in my high street blatantly parked, without a driver, on zig-zags with its flashers on. How stupid and ignorant! Hopefully Chichester licensing appropriately dealt with it.
Portsmouth
Following on from my previous rants, we continue to have Portsmouth PHV drivers working here contra- vening their own licensing conditions by not displaying compulsory livery door signs. These are magnetic and no licensing authority should be using these due to the obvious abuse of being dispensed with when working out-of-sight and out-of-mind of respective licensing enforcement, if that ever actually exists.
To be fair to Portsmouth licensing, I have generally had a quick response from each report that I send in. Portsmouth has even acknowledged that my reports from Brighton are not the only reports received. I’m aware that a recent email was sent from Portsmouth licensing to all Portsmouth proprietors because not
MAY 2026 PHTM
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