METER CHANGE
Thankfully we got our ‘extra’ 5% fare increase in October, to be implemented on 1 November. This is the second fare review this year, which is unprecedented, so overall this now gives us around a 10% increase. This seems to be the average that other areas are also giving although I am always shocked to hear that some areas haven’t had an increase in many years. Guys… we are not a charity…. value your worth!
Many thanks to our Licensing Committee which is now headed by new Chair, Cllr Zoe John, with big boots to fill from Cllr Lizzie Dean.. but it looks quite promising…
It will be interesting as we are now moving to 30p units because we can no longer keep reducing the yardage otherwise the meter will be on spin-cycle. Of course, this now means it takes longer to click over but I am absolutely sure we will get a few comments from passengers so whilst we are bracing ourselves, at least we can now get back some of the extra fuel costs.
LOCAL ENFORCEMENT
We’re pleased to say there has been a number of multi- agency enforcement operations taking place with our local licensing team, Sussex Police and the DVSA, as well as some enforcement officers from other areas.
The local trade fully supports these operations, however, we still have a bugbear with the imbalance of considerably more local cabs being stopped compared to OOTs (out-of-towners).
One major factor is the distinctive body livery of our HCs and the specific door signs that our PHVs have, so they are much easier to stop to pull over. We have even had police bikes pulling hackneys off the ranks to be sent to the enforcement area.
We have pressed the point several times that this imbalance must be addressed on the basis that nearly all Lewes DC PHV drivers predominantly work in Brighton & Hove, amounting to around 500.
To put it into perspective these are the details as supplied to me by BHCC licensing:
• 45 licensed vehicles were stopped • 30 BHCC HCVs and 5 BHCC PHVs.
So, in total that is 35 BHCC licensed vehicles stopped, meaning 78% of the vehicles stopped were BHCC ones. If that is not biased, then what is?
74
The remaining ten were made up of: • 3 Chichester DC PHVs • 5 Lewes DC PHVs • 1 Mid Sussex DC PHV
• 1 Havant BC PHV
It is ridiculous that only 5 Lewes cars were checked considering there are so many of them here.
On the numbers of vehicles checked from specific areas:
• 25% (9 of 35) of the BHCC cars that were stopped needed some form of rectification.
• 20% (1 of 5) of Lewes cars needed some form of rectification but there was also another major issue with one with details further down.
• 100% (3 of 3) Chichester cars needed some form of rectification.
So, whilst there are no excuses for the number of BHCC cars that needed fixes, based on this, Chichester didn’t really come out very well - but wait….there is even more on Chichester.
During another multi-agency operation, a Chichester licensed PHV, carrying two passengers, was stopped for committing a moving traffic offence and it was established that the driver was not a licensed driver with Chichester and in fact wasn’t licensed at all. Also, the vehicle was being driven without insurance.
So the police seized the vehicle and there are investigations being conducted where the owner of the vehicle will be interviewed under caution for allowing the vehicle to be used by a none licensed PHV driver, working in conjunction with Chichester licensing.
It is horrendous to know that what is effectively a bogus PH driver/vehicle, was working here in the city under the guise of being licensed by Chichester.
Additionally, a Lewes driver is being investigated for plying for hire which will lead to a further investigation into the operator licence with Lewes DC as it is believed they were operating illegally within Brighton.
I must point out that these issues are by no means the fault of Chichester or Lewes licensing because under the current chaos of ‘cross-border hiring’ we have gone right back to the pre LGMPA 76 wild west situation - thanks to the likes of Baroness Kramer.
This shambolic state of the trade needs to be fixed now with a condition of licence of a PHV applied which still allows cross-border hiring but prevents such a vehicle predominantly working out of area and out-of-sight of respective local enforcement.
This can be applied to a HCV licence so why not a PHV? NOVEMBER 2022 PHTM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
