CHESHIRE WEST & CHESTER: TAXISHARING PROPOSAL FOR EMPLOYEES
Cheshire West and Chester Council is working with Chester taxi and private hire drivers in a new scheme which could result in staff being picked up from Chester Railway Sta- tion and taken to work. The council is encour- aging more staff to travel to work by train and is working on a range of options.
These may include, for example, encouraging groups of four or five members of staff to use a hackney car- riage from the station rank or a pre-booked PHV from the station to their office to share the cost - which may be at a fixed or reduced rate. Cllr Lynn Riley told the Chester Chronicle: “This makes a great
ROUND THE.. MID SUFFOLK
SAFETY FEARS OVER THREEYEAR LICENCES
deal of sense and would be good for the environment and also for the taxi and private hire trade because they could be guaran- teed fares both from the station and per- haps also from the HQ building or other Chester locations. “This, I am sure, would make it more appeal- ing to travel by train into work.”
CANTERBURY: CABBIES STRIPPED OF THEIR LICENCES
Taxi drivers convicted of drug dealing, assault or threatening people have had their licences blocked in a get-tough move by officials. The Canterbury Times reports that staff at Canterbury City Coun- cil say they have refused four new appli- cations for taxi driver licences, revoked two existing permits and suspended one for six months.
One driver must take a specialist driving test, and others were
banned for poor driv- ing or having cautions for criminal damage or assault.
The drivers all worked in the city, Whitstable and Herne Bay.
Commercial health manager Roger Vick said: “There has been a lot of publicity recently about the number of private hire and taxi licences in the Canterbury district. “It is important to stress that we are legally unable to deny someone a licence if
LEEDS: TAXI LICENCE SHAKE UP MOVE
Drivers applying for a taxi or private hire licence in Leeds face a testing time. Two years ago licens- ing bosses introduced a policy requiring taxi and pri- vate hire drivers to pass specially devel- oped qualifications to get a licence.
Level two NVQs and VRQs related to the trade cover a range of subjects including cus- tomer service, health and safety, trade regu- lations, driving standards and dealing with special needs such as disability. In September 2008 the Leeds Licensing and Regulatory Panel decided that all taxi
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and private hire drivers - new applicants and existing licence hold- ers - should achieve a VRQ and NVQ appro- priate to the trade. Under the current arrangements, new applicants for licences have to attain the qual- ifications within 12 months of the licence being granted, with existing licence hold- ers given until the end of December 2011 to gain them.
The latest figures indi- cate that 60 per cent of licence holders have enrolled on the NVQ programme, with 43 per cent achieving the qualification. Government Train to Gain grants, that helped
cover the £500 cost of the training, recently came to an end. The Yorkshire Evening Post reports that licensing officials say there may come a time when drivers will have to pay the fee them- selves, but in the meantime they are try- ing to find grants from elsewhere. John Mulcahy, head of licensing and registra- tion, said: “It is important that we gauge the views of the people in our city as well as that of the trade.”
All responses will be collated and included in a report that will be put before the Licens- ing Committee in November.
they have the right to work in this country, pass a CRB check and a local knowledge test. “However, when there are good reasons to either deny or revoke a licence, such as in these examples, we won’t hesitate to do so. The safety of the public is of paramount impor- tance to the council. “Local people have a right to expect the vehicle they are get- ting into is driven by a competent and res- ponsible person.”
Taxi drivers in the dis- trict could be handed three-year licences in a bid to cut down on administration costs and renewal fees. The current set-up sees drivers renew their licences and have new Criminal Record Bureau and DVLA checks every year. However, under new proposals being dis- cussed by Mid Suffolk District Council’s licensing committee, that could be scrapped and replaced with a
new three-year ar- rangement.
But council officers have warned that long- term licences could potentially increase the risk of drivers falling foul of CRB rules. Although drivers are legally bound to report any criminal convic- tions or cautions to the council, officers say there is a risk that they may fail to do so. In a report to the com- mittee, officers said one of the main advan- tages was that the
move would bring it in line with Government best practice and cut administration costs both for the council and applicants.
According to the Ipswich Evening Star, the officers have re- commended that committee members allow them to undertake a one-month consulta- tion exercise with taxi firms to investigate the feasibility of issuing the three year licences and report back to the com- mittee on November 19.
ST ALBANS: TAXI DRIVERS URGED TO JOIN FORCES
Taxi drivers are being urged to form a trade association to meet St Albans District Coun- cil and discuss problems they are experiencing.
The proposal that a taxi trade association be created followed a meeting between the council, police and local drivers to dis- cuss the future of the taxi service in the dis- trict.
According to the Herts Advertiser, the taxi drivers raised a num- ber of issues of
concern including parking difficulties in the St Peter’s Street rank and their desire to see a feeder rank created, their views on the need for additional ranks in the district, arrangements for taxi- hailing points, the possibility of limiting the number of taxi licences issued and points about fees and the fare structure. Also aired were prob- lems with unattended vehicles, highways obstruction, damage to pavements and pri-
CRAVEN: TAXI DRIVER RETEST BID REJECTED
Craven taxi drivers with six penalty points on their licence will still have to retake a driving standards test. A trade member of Craven District Coun- cil’s taxi liaison group had asked for the max- imum number of points to be raised to nine. According to the Craven Herald and Pioneer, drivers had argued that it was rela- tively easy to build up six points - such as two speeding offences or being caught twice for talking on a mobile phone while driving.
But the council’s licensing committee decided to leave things as they were. The council currently requires taxi drivers to retake a Driving Stan- dards Agency (DSA) test after getting six penalty points on their licence.
The additional test was brought in following a recommendation by North Yorkshire coro- ner Geoff Fell at the inquest of a taxi driver and passenger who died in a road crash at Gargrave in 2004. The purpose of the
test is to measure the driving competency and skills of all licensed drivers and is a requirement for all taxi drivers in Craven. After the meeting, council leader,
Cllr
Chris Knowles-Fitton, said the council had a duty to the public to make sure all taxi driv- ers were safe.
“In keeping the current level of six penalty points as a requirement for taxi drivers to take a DSA test, I believe we are ensuring the safety of taxi passengers and pedestrians,” he said.
PHTM NOVEMBER 2010
vate hire vehicles ply- ing for trade.
Cllr Chris Oxley, whose council portfo- lio includes taxi- related matters, said: “We very much appre- ciate the work that the taxi trade does for the city and district. Of course their demands have got to be bal- anced against the needs of the whole community. We very much hope that they will form a taxi trade association which will help constructive dia- logue.”
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