Andy Peters Brighton & Hove Cab Trade Association
info@bhcta.co.uk www.bhcta.co.uk
Devolution
Last month my rant was about where we are with devolution with the UK taxi/PH trade in limbo, especially where the government has said it wants to reduce the 270 current licensing authorities down to 70 based on the proposed devolved areas.
As I consistently state, this is the government’s pathetic resolution to
predominant out-of-area working,
mistakenly referred to as cross-border hiring, by taking down the borders to make areas bigger. I published an email sent to the Leader of Brighton & Hove council, Cllr Bella Sankey and Cllr Trevor Muten (Transport), high- lighting the ongoing pressure the local trade in the city is under with the invasion of hundreds of out-of-town drivers compounded by the uncertainty of looming devolution - albeit that I consider since Brighton & Hove is already a unitary authority, the trade here will be a lot better off than others around the country.
I do have to praise Trevor in that he always provides a quick response, even if my concerns are not always fully covered. I did state last month that his response would be shared with the trade and also published here. However, instead I have uploaded his response here at:
bhcta.co.uk/devolution together with my original email for context, for anyone who is interested in reading it. I also had the opportunity to discuss this with Trevor on a one-to-one basis at the Trade Forum meeting the following week.
However…. dramatic pause…. since then, despite confirming devolution details for specific areas, the government has halted it. So, that throws everything that could affect the UK taxi/PH trade in the total chaos of more uncertainty! In one way I say good! I have always stated that I am totally against devolution with what I refer to as the all-powerful ‘God Mayors’ in place, and just because something is bigger doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better. In fact, the results of Brighton & Hove City Council’s own consultation showed overwhelmingly that the residents of the city were totally against devolution. So, the waiting game continues and in the meantime the UK taxi/PH trade carries on in limbo along with the uncertainty of what other possible major changes are to come.
66
Brighton & Hove fare review
Just to be clear, having been heavily involved in fare reviews for a number of years, I specifically removed myself from the process as I wanted others to step-up and step-forward. The last review in 2023/24 went reasonably well. This year’s fare review started in April 2026 by other parties and I purposely distanced myself from this.
The set standard procedure has always been that the trade itself would get together and propose a fare review with the assistance of a senior licensing officer. This would then be officially agreed at a trade forum meeting, and that took place at a meeting in May 2026. It would then be taken to a meeting with the licensing chair and someone from the council finance department.
This would then be formalised and presented to the Licensing Committee, which holds meetings four times a year, with the next one due in June. This would be passed (it’s never been rejected) and would then be published for objections for fourteen days as per Section 65 of the 76 LGMPA. All very straight forward.
However, it wasn’t taken to the licensing meeting in June, and it seemed to have stalled with no explanation provided. In fact one trade rep directly blamed me for the delay… bless him. I then found out that the reason for the delay was due to Brighton & Hove City council changing to a Cabinet system. It seems that now we have a new head of licensing it has been deemed necessary for hackney carriage fare reviews to go through the full council instead.
Mmmm... I will be looking into that. So, at the August trade forum meeting I had fares put on the agenda and asked for a full explanation about the change of the process. This was clarified by the new head of licensing and we were told that the fare review will be on the agenda for the Cabinet meeting on September 17.
I made it very clear that I was not at all happy about the delay (I would hate having to deal with people like me) stating this was normally a straightforward process, dealt with by a small licensing committee which now has to go under the scrutiny of a larger one. In fact it turned out that our fare review would be item number 51 on the agenda which speaks for itself. In fact I was so annoyed about the delay I stated that I felt like walking out. I’m sure there were some at the meeting
OCTOBER 2026 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
