ROUND THE COUNCILS PENDLE:
TAXI SAFETY ROW RUMBLES ON
High failure rates for vehicle checks in Pendle borough have sparked contrasting claims the trade is reluctant to improve safety - or that officials are putting too much pressure on drivers. Some have also alleged councillors are failing to push strongly for improvements, or even to hold the trade to account. And there is disagreement about whether vehicle checks should be done using a mobile phone app, paper check-lists or some other way? There is also debate about what standard of vehicle inspections should be used - MoT-standard or another and whether inspection garages can be trusted. Some Pendle councillors feel no real improvements have been made for years, and the evidence shows vehicle failure rates in the borough are higher than any other in Lancashire. Others ask if cheap fares, tough competition in a recession and low incomes are forcing drivers to cut corners on taxi maintenance? Various council committee and working group meetings have looked at taxi safety. The row has escalated in recent months after particularly bad spot- checks where over 90% of vehicles had some kind of failing. The Licensing Committee then gave the trade ‘one more chance’ to come up with ideas for change. There has since been a change in political control at Pendle Council following the May local elections which brought changes to committee chairman roles. Before May, Pendle Conservatives were in power and Cllr Kieran McGladdery had a key chairman’s role on taxi committees. But he has become increasingly frustrated with the alleged situation and said he feared a serious accident will happen. He has also claimed some taxi meetings had effectively been ‘pointless’ because of the alleged lack of progress. Pendle now has a Labour-Lib-Dem shared adminis- tration and the taxi committee is now chaired by a Labour Cllr Faraz Ahmad. He recently claimed Cllr McGladdery had an aggressive style towards the taxi industry, which had hindered progress. At the latest taxi licensing meeting, Cllr Ahmad said he held discussions with the trade over summer and that a previous taxi meeting in autumn was ‘intense’ with some drivers unhappy with arrangements wanting the spot-checks halted. However, Cllr Ahmad believed two more rounds of checks should be done. Cllr McGladdery believes app technology is the credible way forward for taxi safety. Paper check-lists
PHTM NOVEMBER 2023
can simply be faked - tick-box exercises, he felt. Conservative Cllr Neil Butterworth was also frustrated. He said: “I've been on about 40 working groups over the past 16 years and nothing has changed.” Councillors asked how many taxi drivers in the meeting had read an update email from the council a few days earlier. In a show of hands, just one or two from over 20 indicated they had read it. Conservatives Neil Butterworth and Kevin Salter said many other Lancashire districts had much lower spot- check failure rates, such as Lancaster. Drivers and operators in Pendle must meet their responsibilities and be aware of the risks of prosecution, they added. The taxi committee agreed to hold more vehicle spot- checks before and after Christmas, and get more feedback including from the police. Darren Harris, a solicitor and developer of a vehicle checking app was also at the meeting. He said: “Unlike a paper check-list, you cannot cheat with digital technology. It requires a physical check of the car. And it shouldn’t matter whether one area is poorer than another regarding taxi maintenance. It’s a false ecomomy for taxi owners to cut corners and neglect a car. Checking and maintaining a car will pay-off in the longer term, whatever the driver’s income.”
MEDWAY: TAXIS AND PHVs MUST ACCEPT CARDS
All taxis will be required to offer card payments after unanimous agreement at a full council meeting on 19 October. Councillors said it was a necessary step to provide greater safety as many residents had said they had been turned away from taxis because they wanted to use cards instead of cash. There was cross-party support for the proposal as members from all sides said it was important no-one would get stranded late at night, particularly young women on their own. Cllr Dan McDonald, who introduced the item, said: “Promoting contactless payments aligns with our commitment to inclusivity and accessibility. For those with mobility challenges or who struggle handling cash, having the option for contactless payments ensures they can access taxi services with ease.” Some councillors raised issues of connectivity black- spots, but were reassured this was being investigated and mitigation procedures were being explored. No date is currently set for when the mandate for card readers will come into effect.
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