PROTEST PLIGHT TRADE PROTEST THREAT NETS RESULT IN ROSSENDALE
Hackney carriage licence holders last month successfully prevented the imple- mentation of a penalty point system in Rossendale which was deemed to be unnec- essary, unrealistic, unlawful and dracon- ian to the extreme. The council had pro- posed to impose points on licence hold- ers’ records for a variety of “minor breaches” including sounding the horn, parking on the kerb, and urinating or defe- cating in public. Drivers would face test retakes or possible licence revocations if they reached a 20- point limit within 12 months.
The most outlandish
of these “minor breaches”, for which eight points would have been handed out, was for the use of their taxi radios. The fact that two-way radios are sanctioned by the Radiocommuni- cations Agency, and are not only for receiv- ing jobs but for the safety of drivers to report an attack and get help, did not origi- nally sway the council’s opinion away from the scheme. Council officers and Councillors had been depending on public support of the penalty points scheme, based on the public’s objec- tion to the trade blockade of 2007. However, the public indicated that they
gave full support to the licence holders on this occasion, as pas- sengers believed the point scheme to be “ridiculous” and “un- necessary” – some called it an “insult” to both the drivers and their passengers. Talk of strike action had been rampant follow- ing a 150-strong trade meeting on 11 October, and a meeting of the area’s taxi liaison meet- ing on October 14, the first meeting at which the list of 34 “minor breaches and unac- ceptable behaviour” had been discussed between the council and the trade – who voted unanimously for strike action if the points scheme was not withdrawn.
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Cabbies protest outside Rawtenstall Town Hall
UNWORKABLE
Licence holders were adamant that if they did not fight the penal- ty point proposals, the livelihoods of 268 hackney carriage and private hire drivers would be affected. The way the scheme was being put forward was such that the trade deemed it to be totally unworkable; the licensing manager would be the sole decision maker as to whether or not points were issued, without going to Committee or court. As such they said the council was acting as judge and jury without the appro- priate legislation to back its actions. According to David Lawrie, chair of the Independent Taxi Driv- ers’ Association, li- cence holders made it clear to the council that the penalty point scheme had never been consulted on properly with the trade. Originally the consultation period on the issue was to have run until November 2nd, but the trade wanted the scheme withdrawn with imme- diate effect.
Believing that their objections were falling on deaf ears, the trade held a protest outside the council offices on Thursday, 21 October, with 130 members of
the two local taxi asso- ciations waving banners and stating that if the penalty point scheme was not with- drawn by the next afternoon, they threat- ened to withdraw their services entirely on that Friday and Satur- day night. 22 and 23 October.
CALLED IN
The outcome of Thurs- day’s protest was that licence holders were called in late that after- noon to a meeting with Stuart Sugarman, director of business at Rossendale Council. After some delibera- tion amongst those present, Mr Sugarman stated that there would be no further need for any protests, as “the penalty point scheme no longer exists... it will be withdrawn from the consultation. “Our main priority is to deliver a quality service that meets the needs of the residents of Rossendale and min- imise any disruption to customers; according- ly we have removed the penalty points system from our consultation document, which was the main concern for the drivers.”
Cabbies’ chief Glen Bulcock said: “It is a massive relief. We won’t be striking after all. I think the demon- stration is what turned the corner. There was
a lot of passion, anger and frustration and it all came out at that protest. The council and the public saw our passion. It did a lot more good than a driv- ing protest would have done. I’m overjoyed for the people of Rossendale because we didn’t want to cause any disruption.” Applauding the coun- cil’s action as a victory for common sense, Rossendale’s licence holders can get back to work in the hope that future negotia- tions with the taxi liaison group can be more open, and com- munication between the trade and the council can be trans- parent, to prevent further disagreement and strike action. The National Associa- tion has long cam- paigned against penal- ty point schemes as unnecessary and repet- itive of existing legislation, which already grants licens- ing authorities exten- sive powers to govern the licensed taxi and private hire industry. Instead of penalising the entire trade to sin- gle out the few who exhibit bad behaviour, surely stricter on-street enforcement against the latter will protect, rather than hinder, the livelihoods of the majority.
PHTM NOVEMBER 2010
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