Police are appealing for witnesses and information following an incident in Apsley, where it is reported that a man struck the outside of a taxi with a knife.
The incident occurred at around 8.50pm on Friday, December 8, near the roundabout by Sainsbury’s on London Road. No injuries were reported.
Detective Constable Carina NG, from the Local Crime Unit, said: “We are continuing to establish the full circumstances of this incident, which is being treated as an affray, and I am appealing for anyone with information to please get in touch.
“It’s understood that another car drove into Sainsbury’s car park, passing the attacked vehicle, as the suspect ran across the road. We are keen to speak to the driver of this vehicle to see if they have any information to assist our investigation.
“If this was you, or you were also driving in the area and saw what happened, please email me at carina.ng@herts.police.uk”
You can also report information online at herts.police.uk/report, speak to an operator in the Force Communications Room via the online web chat at herts.police.uk/contact or call the non-emergency number 101, quoting crime reference 41/98106/23.
Kent County Council's former highways boss has called for an internal audit of costly taxi journeys provided to special needs children, to avoid “being taken for a ride”.
According to KentOnline, transport for youngsters with special educational needs (SEN) will cost the authority £60m in 2023/24. More than 6,000 SEN children in the county are given free taxis to classes.
Cllr David Brazier (Con) spoke out at the council’s scrutiny committee meeting in Maidstone on Wednesday 6 December, in a debate about home to school transport (HST).
The former cabinet member for highways and transport hoped an audit would identify savings to assist in KCC’s need to find tens of millions of pounds of efficiencies in the face of soaring prices and squeezed budgets.
Cllr Brazier told members: “It is common parlance outside this authority that the authority overpays for the services it receives from the transport market because there is very little capacity that we have not already taken up.
“So that when further journeys are required, they can be provided at cost which is well above the market rate - that is probably the kindest way to put it.
“The transport officers…had an account of how those market figures or above market figures were arrived at but I myself…am not truly satisfied that we are paying market rates and that we are not, to resort to the vernacular, being taken for a ride.”
He suggested an internal audit could make “selective samples” of journeys and how the costs are arrived and whether they are “fair and in accordance with the market rates”.
Last year a review into KCC’s handling of school transport for SEN children identified a number of "serious flaws".
Earlier this year Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Antony Hook called on the authority to introduce in-house school taxi service to save cash.
At the time, KCC reported HST costs for SEN pupils between July 2022-23 rocketed by £15m and that spend was driven by a near 11% (668) rise in the number of SEN children being carried by cab.
Speaking last week, cabinet member for education Cllr Rory Love sounded a “word of caution” that budget challenges could be resolved by “further, additional” audits.
He said: “This is probably the most scrutinised part of this council’s activities. There is only so far you can go by offloading responsibility.
“We know the answer on HST - it’s absolutely crystal clear. It is the number of children who have in the past been identified as meeting the threshold of additional, very costly transport support.”
Cllr Love said that a recent study on HST showed that while some local authorities pay slightly less, others such as Surrey and West Sussex pay considerably more per capita.
He said the KCC costs were also driven by the “extraordinarily and unexpectedly high” number of children with educational health care plans (EHCP).
Cllr Ros Binks said that the problem starts when the initial assessments are made which ultimately dictates if children are eligible for transport help.
Cllr Antony Hook said he agreed “in principle” to Cllr Brazier’s call for an audit.
He added: “It may well do no harm at all to have an independent set of eyes look at how our £60m HST is being spent because even a small percentage saving would be a significant real-term saving.”
More than 40 taxis and private hire vehicles on Blackburn with Darwen borough's roads have been given pre-Christmas safety checks.
The Lancashire Telegraph reports that the multi-agency operation to took place on Wednesday, December 6.
Only three drivers were ordered to make changes to meet safety standards.
Blackburn with Darwen Council’s taxi licensing team joined forces with the local Police Task Force team and a DVSA vehicle examiner to pull over passing taxis and carry out spot checks.
More than 40 vehicles were stopped by the police and checked over by the DVSA inspector.
Checks were made to ensure that lights were working, tyres were in good order, windscreen wipers working properly etc.
Two vehicles were found to have tyre faults that needed dealing with straight away. The drivers were sent away and reported back the same day to show that the faults had been rectified.
Taxi Licensing officers checked that all the correct licences were in place and vehicle licence plates and signs were displayed and the drivers had licence badges.
Only one driver from Blackburn with Darwen was found to have lost his taxi driver’s licence badge and was sent to get a replacement.
Borough environment boss Cllr Jim Smith said: "Not all the vehicles we stopped during this multi-agency operation were licensed by Blackburn with Darwen – others were licensed in Hyndburn, Pendle, Bolton, Bury, Sefton, Wolverhampton and Slough.
"However it’s important that we ensure, as much as we can, that taxis carrying passengers around the borough, are legal and safe."
Sgt Aled Jones-Roberts from Blackburn with Darwen Police, said: "We work closely with partners to ensure vehicles are safe and legal to be on the roads of Lancashire.
"If and when they don’t meet those standards, we will take the appropriate action. These multi-agency operations will continue."
Source: https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/23981358.taxis-blackburn-darwen-given-safety-checks/
Taxi fares in Denbighshire won’t go up – at least not yet – after a public consultation found opposition to a 5% tariff increase.
Denbighshire Council's licensing committee met to discuss a request from a taxi firm to increase the maximum tariffs.
According to NorthWaleslive, a request was made in mid-June when some drivers feared the new default 20mph speed limit introduced in September could hit profits.
Other escalating running costs associated with inflation included wage rises, garage charges and electric bills.
The taxi company suggested a 10% rise, but at a meeting in September, councillors instead voted for 5% based on the retail price index for motoring. This then went out as part of a public consultation.
If there had been no objections, the new increased tariff would have been introduced on November 1. But the council received 64 responses, with 37 against the 5% increase, 14 in support, and four neutral.
An additional nine respondents wanted an increase of more than 5%.
At the committee meeting at Ruthin’s County Hall, Cllr Hugh Irving proposed the committee voted against the rise.
“This is a difficult issue. One or two things I've taken from the report are that I know the request to review the fares on this particular occasion didn't come from a fare review calculation,” he said. “It came from an approach from one operator.
"A large proportion of the taxi companies seem to be against an increase on the basis, I would imagine, that they are destroying their own business model. Taxis aren't cheap, and there is a view it's actually a negative issue because people make less journeys in their taxis.
"So in a way, it becomes the law of diminishing returns.”
He then said he feared increasing the tariff could end up costing the council at a time when budgets were tight, citing the use of taxi for home-to-school transport, but this was debated, and it wasn’t clear how this would affect fixed-term contracts.
The matter will be re-debated at a future licensing committee following a fare calculator review of the current needs and costs of the industry.
Source: https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/taxi-firms-plea-fare-price-28270697
A Colchester city councillor has called for mandatory CCTV cameras in the city's taxis following a reported increase in abuse faced by cabbies.
The Daily Gazette reports that Labour councillor Dave Harris put forward a motion calling for the council to lobby central government to make it mandatory for there to be security cameras in hackney carriages and private hire vehicles.
Mr Harris said that in September one taxi driver had been slapped around the face by a customer.
He said he wanted to be very clear that in his motion, which passed unanimously, central government should pay for any installation and change – not private companies or the council.
Speaking to LDRS, Cllr Harris said that rather than being an infringement of either party's privacy, cameras which are fitted should allow for video or audio settings to be switched off should an individual request it or feel it is necessary.
He said: "We (Colchester residents) have had people run away from taxis without paying, we've had racial as well as physical abuse of taxi drivers, drivers slapped; to be honest, it's not fair on the drivers who are being treated that way."
He added: “I don’t like calling it CCTV. They would only get used if it is against the driver or the person.
“We have to make sure, just like buses, just like trains, just like every convenience store, you have cameras.”
Regarding the safety of the “travelling public”, he added: “If your mum or my mum was in there, you would want that protection.”
"At the end of the day, it's really to ensure that we (the council) are protecting the most vulnerable in society; taxi drivers across the country and in Colchester are doing a good job of running a business that benefits these people already, and we need to protect them as well."
He estimates around 90 per cent of taxi drivers may already have cameras, but these done on phones could be of insufficient quality and that having this written into national legislation may help GDPR practices be correctly followed..
Richard Ford, owner of Colchester-based Aardvark Travels, said most drivers he knew had their own form of CCTV in vehicles.
However, Mr Ford has experienced incidents where police have not used any self-recorded footage, telling him that it was a “civil matter”.
Mr Ford said that for drivers who do the morning run for school children, recording would be problematic.
“Taxi companies are not a one-size-fits-all all. The council seems to think we are.
“If set up correctly, I have not problem with it. It’s just how the council forces it.”
Mr Ford said drivers are not supported with "the hoops they have to jump through" to gain a licence.
He added that he had had no human contact throughout the licensing process coupled with council emails which could not cope with "2023" file sizes, despite a £360 cost.
“No wonder there’s a shortage of taxi drivers in Colchester,” he added.
Ricky Harold, a 20-year veteran of the town’s taxi trade, was parked in a lay-by when his vehicle was struck from behind by a black Audi A2.
Chinese automotive giant Geely has deepened its commitment to the UK electric vehicle market with a £120m cash injection into London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC).
North Tyneside Council is facing a backlash over plans to increase taxi fares by 6.3%.
Nazim Asmal preyed on his victims after nights out in Preston and Darwen, driving them to secluded spots before carrying out horrific sexual assaults.
Newcastle is set to see a surge in pink taxis driven by women as part of a new initiative aimed at improving passenger safety.
An unlicensed taxi driver who picked up two vulnerable women in Aberdare has been ordered to pay nearly £1,500 in fines and costs.
Cleethorpes taxi drivers are breathing a sigh of relief after council enforcement officers cracked down on vehicles illegally parked in designated taxi ranks.
A Barry man has avoided jail after launching a drunken attack on a taxi driver who refused him entry to his vehicle.
Jersey’s taxi service is in crisis, with driver numbers plummeting by more than a quarter since 2014, a new report has revealed.
On Wednesday 27 July, more than 300 vulnerable youngsters were taken on an all-expenses paid trip to Southport.
Taxi drivers in the town will be able to charge passengers more following a decision by the borough council on 31 July.
A taxi driver has been sentenced to a community order after admitting causing the death of a pedestrian by driving at excessive speed.
A joint operation by council, police, and DVSA officials has seen three taxis taken off the road in Oldham due to safety concerns.
Taxi drivers licensed by Mid Sussex could soon be forced to accept card payments, following a surge in complaints about cash-only services.
Two men have avoided immediate jail time after a high-speed race left a taxi driver with serious injuries.
BYD, manufacturer of new energy vehicles and power batteries, has announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Uber, designed to bring 100,000 new BYD EVs onto the Uber platform across key global markets.
Ways of increasing the amount of wheelchair-accessible taxis across the city are set to be explored to make it easier for those who need one to get one.
Cumbrian taxi drivers are fighting back against proposed licensing changes they fear will cripple their livelihoods.
Bolton taxi drivers are urged to sign up for free safeguarding and disability awareness training before the deadline on October 31st, 2024.
A Conwy Council meeting on Monday revealed a critical failing that allowed a taxi driver whose license had been revoked to continue transporting children to school.