LOCAL AUTHORITY LET-DOWNS


KIRKLEES CABBIE OUT OF WORK FOR WEEKS AFTER COUNCIL DELAYS LEFT HIM WITHOUT LICENCE


A Kirklees taxi driver has been left out of work for weeks on end after the council failed to approve the renewal of his licence. Zulfiqar Ali knew his licence was up for renewal and so got in contact with the council which then sent off a request for an enhanced DBS check on July 1. His licence expired on August 18, without any news on when it might be renewed, so Mr Ali got in contact with the DBS and asked how long the process would take. He was told on August 19 that the DBS had emailed Kirklees Council requesting information, but had


not received a reply.


Mr Ali then tried to raise this with the council but received little help, particularly as it can take ten days to respond to emails . The council then said they would help Mr Ali send off a fresh appli- cation, but this will take more time when he is unable to earn money. He said: “I’ve been driving since 1997 and really, the way I’ve been treated and my application is just very unfair.”


Mr Ali also said it was frustrating trying to get help at the council as the switchboard won’t put him through to senior management. A Kirklees Council spokesperson responded saying they couldn't comment on individual cases, but urged My Ali to contact the team directly to help resolve any issues. They added: “Kirklees Council Licensing Team has set procedures in place which must be followed by drivers wanting to apply for or renew taxi licences.” Now, Mr Ali is looking to get out of the trade and is attempting to pass his exams to become a lorry driver.


LACK OF SIGNS HAVING MASSIVE EFFECT ON WORCESTER’S TAXI TRADE SAY DRIVERS


Taxi drivers say missing signs pointing the public away from roadworks and towards a new rank is ‘massively affecting’ trade. A temporary taxi rank was set up in Angel Street in Worcester in the summer to replace a number of spaces shut off, to allow the council to carry out resurfacing work and improvements to The Cross. Frustrated taxi drivers waiting at the passenger-less temporary rank have said that the ongoing work and the lack of signage were having a huge impact. Shaukat Ali, 52, who has been a taxi driver for 17 years, said: “We’re trying to provide a public service and we can’t do that at the moment. Sometimes we’re sitting in traffic for half an hour not going anywhere. Who is that helping? It’s hitting the customers because


PHTM NOVEMBER 2022


they have to pay more. “There are no signs to tell people that they should come here instead - it’s having a massive effect on trade.” The lack of signs was discussed by Worcester City Council’s licensing committee at a meeting on 27 September. It was expected the signs would be erected quickly but they were not in place a week later. Cllr Cronin said the decision to close the taxi rank in The Cross without much warning had been


met with “unified horror.” “At the last minute we were promised that those ranks [in The Cross] would only be closed for three days and as far as I can tell between that meeting [in June] and now, they’ve probably only been open for three days,” he told councillors. “What makes the situation worse is that there is no visible sign redirecting people to the temporary rank in Angel Street. “I’ve been up there almost every day during the summer and I have never seen a sign.” Asked what had happened to the signs, Niall McMenamin, from Worcestershire Regulatory Services, said: “At one stage there was a sign, whether it has been removed, I can look into it certainly to make sure it’s put back in place.”


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