IN THE NEWS
MINISTER FACES FOREIGN CABBIES IN LIVERPOOL
A Government Minister has launched an inquiry into the employment of foreign cab drivers after he was caught up in an outbreak of ‘taxi wars’ at his party confer- ence. Transport Minister Norman Baker was left seething during the Liberal Democrat gathering in Liverpool after he hailed a black cab from the dock area and asked the driver to take him to a smart restaurant on top of the tallest build- ing in the city.
Despite the tower housing the Panoram- ic, the UK's highest restaurant, being just 1,200 yards away, the non-English-speaking driver drove around in
circles for nearly half an hour trying to find it. Eventually Mr Baker stormed out of the taxi and refused to pay. But when he flagged down a second cab and tried to get in, another driver - who thought he was next in line - pulled in front of the cab to stop it driv- ing off.
The irate driver refused to move until the Minister reluctantly agreed to climb into his vehicle, after which he was finally deliv- ered to his supper. Mr Baker - who hap- pens to be res- ponsible for the licens- ing of PHVs - said the episode had prompted him to mount an inves- tigation into the licensing of foreign
drivers.
Some local people claim that foreigners applying to become cab drivers are being helped by official inter- preters during the test of their navigation skills.
Unite, the union which represents cab driv- ers, has lodged a complaint with coun- cillors about the skills of foreign drivers. A Liverpool City Council spokesman told the Mail on Sun- day: “All applicants for a taxi licence have to take a written street knowledge test in English as well as an oral English language test.
“No interpreters are allowed to be present at these tests.”
BAN FOR BOGUS MIDDLESBROUGH DRIVER
A bogus taxi driver has been banned from picking up passengers after he carried out pri- vate hire work for more than two years without a licence. Daniel Wood, from Mid- dlesbrough, had been picking up, dropping off and carrying pas- sengers in Middles- brough around the
Western Social Club, in Union Street, and the Bongo nightclub, in Bridge Street West. According to the North- ern Echo, Middles- brough Council has now secured an injunc- tion against Mr Wood, banning him from ply- ing for hire or carrying out private hire work around the town.
Injunction proceed- ings were brought by the council after evi- dence gathered over two years showed the 66-year-old picking up and dropping off pas- sengers at peak times from specific loca- tions, despite not being licensed as a taxi driver or being properly insured.
TRAVEL CARD COULD KEEP EASTBOURNE STUDENTS SAFER
A taxi firm is hoping to improve safety for young people and stu- dents by introducing a travel card so they always have money to get home if they become lost or it is late at night.
Radio Cars, which has nearly 50 cars in East- bourne, is targeting the card at the town’s many foreign student visitors.
Martin Easton, who is
doing marketing for Radio Cars, came up with the idea after being concerned about his own daughter. He put £60 in the till of a taxi office in St Leonards so she could always get home safely.
Radio Cars hopes the scheme will discour- age students from walking home to their host families late at night.
Martin told the East-
bourne Herald: “This scheme will allow any amount of money to be transferred to a personalised, plastic debit travel card to pre-pay taxi fares with Radio Cars.
“This will mean par- ents will know that their daughter or son can obtain a safe, reli- able taxi even if they don’t have the money on them at that partic- ular time.”
TAXI BOSS CALLS FOR BINGLEY PHVS TO CARRY SIGNS
A taxi boss is calling for council-endorsed signs to be displayed on PHVs in the Brad- ford district, to stop drivers illegally pick- ing up punters who flag them down. Billy Sheikh, acting chairman of Bingley Hackney Carriage Association, said the signs, which are already used by other councils, would make it clear to customers they would not be insured if they travelled in PHVs not booked in advance. Mr Sheikh said there were problems in Bin- gley with private hire drivers plying for trade outside pubs and bars, taking business from licensed hackney carriage drivers. He told the Bradford
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Telegraph and Argus: “They are parking out- side hotspots, touting for trade. Meanwhile we are sitting on the taxi rank waiting for trade that never arrives.”
Raja Shakhawat Hus- sain, chairman of Bradford Private Hire Association, said Brad- ford Council needed to limit the number of licences issued to pri- vate hire drivers to make sure there was enough work available. He said: “The penal- ties for picking people up who have not booked are very, very tough. When people are drunk they don’t know what kind of car they are getting into. They just jump into it.” Cllr Ghazanfer Khaliq,
the Council’s execu- tive member for environment and sus- tainability, said: “Any- thing we can do to make people safe, we would be more than happy to consider. Councillors are already looking into issues in relation to taxis.” Bradford Coun- cil’s Hackney Carriage manager Carol Stos said: “We are aware of the concerns raised about the situation in Bingley and they are being addressed by our enforcement team.”
Mmmm...Hate to dis- appoint, but the legislation does not give councils power to limit PHVs. Only solu- tion: tougher en- forcement. - Ed
PHTM NOVEMBER 2010
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