ROUND THE COUNCILS EAST SUFFOLK: TRADE REPS SPEAK OUT AFTER DECISION
Taxi and PH representatives have spoken out over the ‘dire state’ of the trade following a council decision. Councillors of East Suffolk Council’s licensing committee met on 16 October, to discuss the trade reps’ concerns regarding the ‘horribly long and costly’ licensing process new drivers must go through. The reps called for the licensing process to be stream- lined and for ways to alleviate financial burdens on drivers when applying. However, they say they were saddened after councillors decided to carry only one of their recommendations. Stacey Lock, MD of Five One Taxis, in Lowestoft, said: “They have no interest in supporting our trade and what they’re doing is compromising public safety.” The issues had already been raised during a scrutiny committee meeting on September 23, when several recommendations were put forward. According to Ms Lock, attaining a licence would set back drivers at least £800. This, she says, is ‘driving people away’ from getting into the trade and has resulted in limited services due to lack of drivers. Ms Lock explained this was even affecting the delivery of some school transport, including that of SEN children. She continued: “We are the third wheel so to speak - everyone forgets about the taxi service, but when the ambulances don’t run or you can’t get the kids to school, we’re there to help.” However, while councillors from the licensing committee acknowledged the financial burden on drivers and carried a motion to look into ways to alleviate it, they did not feel streamlining processes were appropriate. Cllr Colin Hedgley said this would lead to a ‘watering down of the standards’ expected from trained drivers. He added: “I have seen some rogue taxi drivers and they get through the system we’ve got at the moment which we think is quite strict.” Cllr Mark Jepson added: “While I fully understand the financial burden on taxi drivers, I do think we have an obligation to make sure that those taxi drivers operating in East Suffolk should be adequately trained. “As much as I understand it, I think we should maintain that high level of assessment.” Cllr Mike Deacon, who chaired the scrutiny committee in September and presented the recommendation on Monday, said he was let down by the decision.
PHTM NOVEMBER 2023
He added: “Everything that we would like to have seen was covered by the recommendations. “Quite frankly, I’m disappointed that the licensing committee didn’t see it the way we saw it.” Following the licensing committee’s decision, officers will now look at ways to ease the financial burden relating to the application process.
NORTH YORKSHIRE: LEGAL ACTION THREAT OVER SINGLE ZONE
Taxi drivers have threatened legal action against North Yorkshire Council’s decision to abolish hackney carriage zones. Senior councillors backed the introduction of a county-wide zone on April 1 at a meeting on October 17. It means drivers can now operate anywhere across the county, rather than being limited to areas such as the former Harrogate district. Taxi drivers say this has led to a range of problems, including drivers flocking to popular urban areas while ignoring less profitable rural areas. Now licensing consultant, David B Wilson, has claimed the decision to introduce the single zone was unlawful and has threatened action. In a letter to Barry Khan, the council’s monitoring officer, seen by the Stray Ferret, Mr Wilson gave notice that drivers had instigated a judicial review pre-action protocol and he urged the authority to find a resolution to the matter and investigate why the council’s executive had legally approved the measure. Mr Wilson said: “As futile as it may be, as the challenged resolution was made with legal advice provided by you (monitoring officer) and Laura Venn (deputy monitoring officer), for the sake of completeness, my clients ask you to review the law and reconsider whether the council has acted lawfully when purportedly passing an extension resolution by the executive on 17 October 2023.” The move comes after Ripon-based taxi driver Richard Fieldman urged councillors to delay the decision on October 17 as legal advice he received suggested the decision should be made during a full meeting of all 90 councillors rather than by its ten-person executive. However, in response, Cllr Greg White and the council’s chief legal officer Barry Khan both said they were satisfied the executive had the right to make the decision. The executive then voted unanimously to confirm the abolition of the seven zones and to create the single county-wide zone.
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