who would have liked me to have done that. Keep in mind that I have not been involved in the fare review, however, the two reps who were involved were absent from the meeting, so I considered that questions needed to be put by someone.
Anyway, the agenda for the Cabinet meeting on September 17 was published and contained nearly 500 pages. The fare review itself covered 18 pages which was quite astonishing, but I suppose council employees have to justify their jobs. I watched it live on the council’s webcast… well it saved having to get up early after a late night… and it was passed. However, whereas before Licensing would then get it published it seems it now has to go through yet another stage?!
A councillor posted on his Facebook page a brief summary of that meeting which included a statement on the fare review: “We moved forward a review of taxi fares. Any change will still go through equality and statutory consultation, balancing affordability for passengers with the rising costs facing drivers.”
I have no idea why an ‘equality consultation’ is ‘statutory’ for hackney carriage fares? As far as I’m concerned, under Section 65 of the 76 LGMPA, all that needs to be done is for the proposed fares to be published for objections, with the fares already having been passed by the Cabinet meeting, which allows anyone from any representational group to offer comments/objections. So, off goes another email to Trevor effectively asking what is going on, and more importantly, a time scale for the implementation of the new fares. As always, Trevor quickly responded and stated that he will get back to me as soon as he gets information on this, although I have not yet received anything at the time of writing this.
Portsmouth penalty points
Portsmouth private hire drivers continue to use our ranks, and I continue to send off reports to Portsmouth Licensing. I’m pleased to state that the latest two drivers who have done this have received 4 points each as per the penalty points system in place in Portsmouth. Well done Portsmouth Licensing. One has also received points for purposely removing the rear licence plate. I need to make it clear that I have better things to do with my increasingly shortening time on this earth. I really would much rather have a situation where, whilst we have to put up with hundreds of OOTs working here, out-of-sight and out-
PHTM OCTOBER 2026
of-mind of respective licensing enforcement, those that predominantly work here kept to the rules and didn’t exploit the current state of affairs… effectively stop taking the whatsit.
I’m pleased to say that the Uber rep here, Luke Juan, is now very helpful and is happy to be copied in to all reports to any licensing authority where their private hire drivers are using taxi ranks or are working here without plates or door livery.
Now, a penalty points system for licensed drivers can be controversial and fiercely resisted. Brighton & Hove licensing tried to bring such as system in here about two years ago, but the trade voted against it. I never made it a secret that I personally supported it, but when I carried out a member poll it was voted against, so of course I had to present that view and voted against it. Why do I support it? Well, its simple, I have nothing to fear. However, I’m very pleased that Portsmouth and Lewes (next door to us) have a penalty points system because:
1. Nobody wants drivers to lose their licences if they mistakenly err and it also gives drivers a chance to redeem themselves.
2. It gives a licensing authority a tool to assess the character of a driver if offending continues which can also be used in court should a driver lose their licence because the LA can show that a driver has been given chances. Let’s be realistic, do we really want rotten apples in our trade?
Brighton naked bike ride
We had the annual naked bike ride here and firstly I have to state: ‘Why?’ And that is a serious ‘Why?’ From the local media photos that I’ve seen, you would have thought it was mid-winter, so in one respect it could be a case of: ‘Nothing to see here’. The funny thing is that we have a council supported third-party bike hire- service and there were plenty of these in the parade. So, the first thing I thought of was: ‘Did anyone bring any wet-wipes?’ These bikes are almost the same aqua colour as the hackney boot and bonnets here.
So, it has crossed my mind to put it to the council that the local taxi trade should have a naked taxi ride day, where drivers and customers could join in the fun of the ‘Anything goes!’ policy of the city. I will put that on the next Trade Forum meeting agenda….
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