DEREG DILEMMA
You can see from the stories in this month’s issue in particular, that dereg is still the hot topic of the day. We’ve explained before that, because we’re a monthly publication, sometimes we hear of some ‘breaking news’ after our press deadline, so that by our next edition you may have already heard about it. This was the case with both the Coventry and Crawley stories herein. But you’ll note that there is a growing trend in successful efforts to re-regulate some licensing areas, and you’ll see below the reaction of the trade to putting the cap back on down their way. How has your area been affected: not enough ranks, not enough business, standing idle for hours? You know where to get in touch; we’ll pass it on to those who are listening.
REMOVE LIMIT ON NUMBER OF GWYNEDD TAXIS
Plans to allow taxis to work throughout Gwy- nedd have been drawn up by council officials. Currently taxis have to be licensed in the Arf- on, Dwyfor and Meirionnydd districts and can only ply their trade in those districts. In a report to the coun- cil’s licensing commit- tee, to be discussed at
Caernarfon, officials said the number of licensed taxis in Arfon was restricted to 96 while there was no such restriction in the other districts.
Head of Regulatory Services Aled Davies told the Wales Daily Post: “We now believe it is time for us to con- sider doing away with
these three zones so that everyone in Gwy- nedd operates under the same conditions. “The Best Practice Guidance published by the Department for Transport in 2010 encourages councils to do away with any zones, on the basis of fairness, conformity and to ease enforcement.”
OXFORD WILL KEEP CAP ON NUMBER OF TAXI LICENCES
A limit on the number of taxis in Oxford will not be scrapped, coun- cil leaders have vowed. Oxford City Council said the city has enough taxis and axing the 107 limit would add to congestion.
The council has to reg- ularly review the cap but Labour and Green groups have pledged to oppose removing it
amid warnings from cabbies of a crisis in the trade. Alan Woodward, of the City of Oxford Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Associa- tion, told the Oxford Mail that taxi usage had fallen 40 per cent in the past year, a drop last seen in the 1980s. The council’s licensing committee was to dis- cuss the issue al-
though a final decision will go to the full coun- cil. If the committee says the cap should be kept, an unmet demand survey will be carried out in 2012.
The survey was last carried out in 2009 and showed there was no unmet demand, leading the council to vote to keep the cap in July last year.
COVENTRY COUNCIL TO CAP NUMBER OF TAXI LICENCES
A cap on the number of licences is one of a number of measures set to be introduced following a survey of taxi availability.
Coventry Council com- missioned a survey, between May and July, to see if there was an unmet demand for taxis in the city. The results showed that there is no shortage of taxis in Coventry but taxis are not always where peo- ple want them when they want them.
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Cllr Lindsley Harvard, cabinet member for city services, told Maya News: “For some time now, in line with nation- al guidelines, the policy has been to allow the market to dictate the number of taxis. How- ever, the report appears to show that we can improve the taxi service by placing a cap on numbers whilst taking actions to ensure that the service to Coventry is better balanced. “Under national guide-
lines, if a cap is placed on numbers, a fresh sur- vey needs to be undertaken at least every three years to retest that there remains no unmet demand. However if measures we put in place fail to produce a better bal- anced service, we have the option of lifting the cap after 12 months.” The recommended cap will limit the number of hackney carriage li- cences to the level as of 19 September 2011.
CRAWLEY TAXI DRIVERS WELCOME LICENCE FREEZE
Crawley drivers are breathing a collective sigh of relief after the council decided to restrict the number of cabs in the town. As reported in Private Hire and Taxi Monthly, drivers have been struggling to make ends meet due to the amount of competition for business.
At a Crawley Borough Council licensing committee in Septem- ber, it was agreed that no more hackney car- riage licences would be handed out.
The number of taxis in the town has been continuously increas- ing since 2002, when previous restrictions were withdrawn. Although councillors agreed to a limit, the council will not be able
to refuse licence requests for wheel- chair accessible veh- icles if the proportion of these does not meet Government guide- lines.
The council agreed to review the situation after the taxi trade com- missioned a survey which showed there was no unmet demand for taxis in the town. Mark Bonner, 50, from Broadfield, believes the current situation could have been avoided in the first place.
He said: “We said in 2002 that most towns which de-restricted taxis ended up going back to restricting them. It took a survey for them to see their mistake, and that had to be paid for out of
our own pockets.” Colin Bonner, 51, from Gossops Green, believes it will be a couple of years before drivers see the bene- fits of the decision, but added: “It is the best thing the council could have done.”
The council was also considering making it a requirement for all taxis to be converted to be able to take wheelchairs.
That proposal was rejected but the coun- cil is looking at how it can provide disability awareness training to drivers.
A review will be car- ried out in three years to assess whether there is any unmet demand for taxis as the town’s population increases.
RICHMONDSHIRE CABBIES PREPARE TO MOUNT LEGAL ACTION
Taxi drivers are consid- ering taking legal action against a council over its decision to deregulate the industry. According to the Northern Echo, mem- bers of the trade have already passed a vote of no confidence in two council officers after Richmondshire District Council’s licensing committee decided to remove the limit on the number of taxi plates issued. It is currently capped at 65 and the decision was made to allow more registered taxis to attract new busi- ness and encourage taxi drivers to provide a better service in rural areas.
But outraged mem- bers of Richmond Independent Drivers’ Association (RIDA) and the Taxi Drivers’ Association say de- regulation will result in fewer taxis in rural
areas and at quiet times of the week. Grant Curphey, from the Independent Driv- ers’ Association, told the meeting: “In Fleet- wood, near Blackpool, they deregulated their taxi industry and they went from having 105 PHV to more than 1,000 in less than 12 months. All the new people who came in had other jobs and just put plates on their vehicles and came out at busy times.
“The professional taxi drivers couldn’t make a living, so they left. So they ended up with virtually no taxis from Monday to Thursday. If this goes ahead, in 18 months we will all be out of a job.” George Pearson, chairman of RIDA, told the meeting that local taxi drivers were not consulted over any of the recent changes affecting their industry.
He said an independ- ent unmet demand survey they had com- missioned - which showed there wasn’t a demand for more taxis in rural areas - was not properly taken into consideration.
Head of regulatory services at Hambleton District Council, Mau- rice Cann, said the council had sent a let- ter to all taxi drivers inviting them to attend a meeting on April 5, which was attended by 17 drivers.
He said: “It’s quite wrong to suggest there wasn’t any con- sultation. In terms of the decision the coun- cil has made, it has considered the unmet demand survey and it was fully debated in public. Then a majority decision was made to deregulate the indus- try. This is in line with government advice and best practice.”
PHTM NOVEMBER 2011
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