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www.phtm.co.uk november 2011 The official newspaper of the National Private Hire Association FENLAND GOES GUILDFORD!!
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FREE PHTM readers may remember the Page One headline last month, which read: “Shropshire goes Berwick”, concern- ing the large number of hackney carriage licences being issued in Shrop- shire for use on private hire circuits elsewhere, mirroring the situation in Berwick. This time we have Fenland District Council, which has gone the way of Guildford Bor- ough Council as regards the advertising - or not, as the case may be - of licence fee increases over the years.
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A council blunder could see Fenland’s taxi and private hire drivers share a £100,000 windfall. An investigation by the National Private Hire Association found that Fenland District Council has failed for more than a decade to advertise increases in vehicle and operator licence fees. The mistake was picked up by Cllr Dave Patrick, who also chairs the Wis- bech and District Taxi Drivers’ Association. “I’m dismayed that the council has failed to keep its own house in order,” he said. A council spokesman told the Wisbech Standard: “We have published the fees on our website, as we do with all our fees.
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Our error was to fail to advertise them in a local newspaper.” Section 70 Local Government (Mis- cellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 states that coun- cils must advertise rises in “at least one local newspaper” if the licence fee exceeds £25. The cur- rent cost of a vehicle licence in Fenland is £115. Bryan Roland, General Secretary of the National Association, said that under the statute, taxi drivers were entitled to compensation for the unadvertised fees in the last six years. Mr Roland said this would result in payments of approxi- mately £481.50 for every hackney carriage driver in Fenland, as well as £476 for private hire driv- ers and £229.65 for operators. He said it was possible that the blunder could cost the council more than £100,000. Mr Roland said: “What we’ve said to these licence holders is quite simple. If they want to take it to the Ombudsman then that’s fine, but we’re giving the council a chance to
respond. We’ve written four times but we’ve had no concrete answers apart from the acknowl- edgement of their mistake. Whether it’s a ‘bury your head in the sand job’ or not, the point is this has got to be resolved.” The council spokesman said that not every driver would be affected, as some operators ran more than one vehicle, and it was “very unclear” how much money could be involved. He said: “We do not believe the figures quoted by Mr Roland are correct. We are currently examining both the num- bers involved and the potential financial impli- cations.”
The mistake mirrors the case earlier this year in which Guildford Borough Council paid almost £100,000 to cabbies after failing to advertise fee increases. The spokes- man added: “A number of other councils are also currently reviewing their processes following the court case in Guildford. Any driver seeking to make a claim will need to
provide detailed evi- dence of that claim to enable it to be investigat- ed and a remedy found. Any successful claim will be only be settled once that evidence has been provided.
“It is important to stress that the council does not make money from these charges. They simply pay for the service and ensure that it does not cost the council or the general public.” Cllr Patrick said: “This investigation was done on behalf of every taxi driver in Fenland. It’s a massive amount of money for a basic mistake. I mean, how much does an advert cost? “It’s absolutely amazing that they still haven’t adver- tised the rises, despite all this going on. They just don’t seem to have a clue what they’re doing.” The National Association has since heard of a few other councils that have not advertised their vehi- cle and operator licence fee ‘variations’ in the local press. How about your area? You know where to get in touch!
01582 466800
www.auriga.co.uk
issue 230
issue 230 by Trapeze
See page 10
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