A group of Harlow cabbies has called for the resignation of the council's licensing committee chairman following comments which were made regarding a long-standing dispute over drivers licensed in towns as far as 130 miles away operating in Harlow.
EssexLive reports that last week Councillor Nick Churchill criticised Councillor Chris Vince's "dramatic and misinformed statements" about the sub-contracting of private hire vehicles from Wolverhampton by an operator in the town.
Cllr Churchill said: "There are clear and strict rules about using private hire drivers and vehicles from other areas and all of those are being complied with.
"My licensing team has been making regular inspections of the operator's activities in this regard, and at no point has there been any breaches of the rules and regulations."
However, one local driver from the group is demanding Cllr Churchill's resignation from his post as Harlow Council's licensing committee chairman and said that Cllr Churchill has "made everything look rosy" and "downplayed the issue" by stating the incorrect licensing fees in his statement.
Cllr Churchill claimed that in Wolverhampton, the cost of a hackney carriage or private hire licence is £233.48 for one year and £289.48 for three.
The most recent documentation from the City of Wolverhampton Council states that, as of April 1 2023, a new one-year licence for either a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle costs £49, rising to £98 for three years.
These figures were reduced in March of this year from £64 and £120 respectively following an unprecedented number of licence applications during 2021 and 2022.
In comparison, Harlow Council charges £298 for a one-year private hire operator licence
As well as the disparity in costs, the driver told LDRS that the lack of responsibility Wolverhampton-registered cab drivers have to Harlow Council also sets a dangerous precedent for a lack of regulation amongst a pool of over 400 hackney carriage and private hire licence holders in the town.
He said: "We don't even know if every driver entering Harlow is licensed. Harlow Council has some of the strictest licensing policies in the country... They can pull (cab drivers) off the road without a moment's notice."
He added that the over-saturation of Harlow's taxi network caused by the increased number of licence holders in the area who are registered in locations across the country has the potential to put jobs at risk.
"All we want is fairness," he said, "We're not afraid of competition by any means, but those who live and work in Harlow are being pushed aside."
Cllr Churchill said in his statement that he was not surprised by Cllr Vince "trying to manufacture a problem that my hard-working and hard-pressed licensing team are already dealing with successfully".
However, the driver told EssexLive that he and his fellow protestors are supported by the trade union Unite, and they are "one step ahead" of Cllr Churchill in their fight for a review of the current legislation.
Source: https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/harlow-taxi-drivers-call-licensing-8735260
Cab drivers say that the reduction in the default speed limit to 20mph is going to cost them time and money.
According to ITV News, the cabbies in Cardiff also said they think that the change will lead to an increase in road rage among drivers.
The change comes into force in less than two weeks, on Sunday, 17 September.
John Lewis, who is a taxi driver in Rhoose, told ITV News Wales the move will cost people like him more money.
"High speed is one thing, I appreciate that entirely. Nobody wants to be going past a school or hospital at high speed where there are children around or vulnerable adults, etc," he said.
"For a main road, just a normal road - how does 20mph change anything? It's going to be costing more fuel.
"If I've got to go slower, obviously it clogs up the DPF (diesel particulate filter) on the cars - that's going to be more repair bills for the car and therefore in the long run, it's going to cost us more money."
Alex Leonard is also a cabbie in Cardiff. He said working in the 20mph zones in the city costs him extra fuel every day.
"I couldn't get out over second gear," he told ITV News Wales.
"It's just a row of cars and every day I filled up my tank and it would be an average of £7 more a day."
Mr Leonard said the policy means "slower jobs", explaining that the customer will then have to allow more time to get to their train station.
He added: "They potentially might miss their train, if they're going to catch onward travel, so it's going to have not only an impact on me but on the customer as well."
Plans to rebrand Newcastle's black cabs to make the vehicles instantly recognisable to the public and keep everyone safe have been approved.
Newcastle City Council’s fleet of almost 600 licensed hackney carriages will be required to be all black with distinctive white bonnets.
The vehicles will also need to display red Council crests on the front doors and have a taxi sign on the roof that is white at the front and red at the rear.
The plans will also require private hire vehicles to display a green council number plate and the operator’s details on the back passenger doors.
The new measures, part of the council’s new Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy, were approved at a City Council meeting on Wednesday September 6.
Cllr Paula Maines, Newcastle City Council Cabinet member for a Resilient City, said: “Taxis play an important role in keeping our city moving and many people in our communities rely upon them.
“That is why it is so crucial that we have a distinctive fleet of hackney carriage and private hire vehicles that the public can easily recognise.
“The unique branding will assure passengers that the driver, vehicle and operators have met our very high licensing standards and that they will be transported to their destination safely.
“It also supports the work we do with key partners to stop unlicensed drivers illegally plying for trade and preying on vulnerable people – particularly lone women – after a night out.
“The safety of everyone is our top priority and we are committed to ensuring Newcastle continues to be an attractive and vibrant place to visit, work and live.”
To support hackney carriage drivers with the new requirements, the council will provide a £100 grant so they can get the white vinyl wrap fitted to the bonnet of their vehicle.
To qualify for the payment, the car should have been licensed with the council on or before June 19 this year.
The new policy also includes a requirement for any new vehicles to be compliant with the environmental standards of Newcastle and Gateshead’s Clean Air Zone.
Source: https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/citylife-news/black-and-white-taxi-plans-approved
An Aberdeen cabbie has been given a formal warning after taking on 40 unlawful fares earlier this year.
According to the Press and Journal, Majid Ali’s taxi inspection certificate expired earlier this year but he continued to use the car to transport customers.
Aberdeen City Council’s licensing team had emailed him about the potential risk of continuing to drive the vehicle – but Mr Ali claims he missed it as he was sleeping.
The breach was brought before the local authority’s licensing committee on Wednesday 6 September.
Pleading for leniency, a defiant Mr Ali insisted that the council “should have phoned him” rather than sending an email.
The miffed cabbie questioned why the council “couldn’t leave a simple voicemail” when his father in war-torn Kashmir manages to call.
Policy states that taxis must undergo two inspections a year. After a successful inspection, each licence holder is given a pass certificate that has an expiry date.
Mr Ali’s previous document expired on January 9.
The council advised him the following week that his certificate had expired and he should stay off the road until his vehicle was re-inspected.
However, Mr Ali undertook 40 hires between Friday, January 20 and Sunday January 22 anyway. Extra charges are applied to taxis booked at the weekend.
The local authority sent him an email at 11.45am on Friday, January 20, which he missed as he was “asleep after finishing a night shift with Rainbow City Taxis”.
He said he didn’t notice the important message until Monday, when he immediately stopped using his car.
“I read my email and at the bottom it says that ‘you are not allowed to use your car, it is a criminal offence’,” Mr Ali told the committee.
Councillors questioned if Mr Ali had any reminders in place about them and he argued the local authority needed to do more to alert him instead.
“The council never rang me, they just sent an email.
“I’m putting my hands up that it’s my responsibility to check emails but I’m just saying a phone call would help, or even a voice message as everyone else rings.
“British Gas rings me, my father from Kashmir in a warzone rings me, but Aberdeen council can’t leave a simple voicemail?”
He added: “I never read the email, that is my fault."
Councillors agreed the offence wasn’t enough to warrant stripping the cabbie of his licence.
Councillor Marie Boulton believed a formal warning was suitable, along with a reminder that the conditions of his licence were Mr Ali’s responsibility.
She said: “I don’t take it lightly when there’s a breach of conditions because I think they could have quite serious consequences.
“On this occasion, a formal warning will be sufficient and we take no further action after that.
“But it wouldn’t happen again if he appeared before us.”
Members of the committee unanimously agreed to issue the warning, which will remain on Mr Ali’s record for the next two years.
Source: https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen-aberdeenshire/6123031/rogue-aberdeen-taxi-driver/
A petition has been launched calling on North Yorkshire Council (NYC) to bring back local taxi zones, reversing a policy introduced earlier this year that local drivers have branded a “massive mistake”.
Under the old system, each local authority in the county had its own taxi licensing zone, and drivers could only work within that area.
According to the Stray Ferret, county councillors decided on February 21 that North Yorkshire would introduce a single zone for the whole of the county, meaning that drivers can now work across the region. The move was in line with “best practice” advice from the government, which advocates the policy to “allow economic forces to determine supply levels and generate cost savings for the council”.
The policy came into effect on April 1.
But Liberal Democrat Councillor Barbara Brodigan, who represents the Ripon Ure Bank & Spa division, says the single county-wide zone is failing customers and damaging the livelihoods of local drivers.
She said: “North Yorkshire is the biggest county in the country, and it has ‘hotspots’ as well as huge rural areas. Drivers from elsewhere are now over-supplying the bigger towns, but leaving rural areas with limited or no access to taxis.”
She said local drivers had traditionally serviced the whole area – towns and villages – but are now having a lot of the lucrative town business taken away from them by competitors who have no interest in servicing the rural areas.
She added: “Some of these local drivers have invested up to £30,000 in their business – for the car, licence and goodwill – and are now having to compete with people from outside the area who don’t even know the area.”
One of the people affected is Richard Fieldman, who owns A1 Cars in Ripon.
He said: “I’d say every driver here has lost at least 25% of their income because of this policy. For example, on race day [at Ripon Racecourse], we get drivers from Skipton, Ryedale – all over – coming to Ripon and picking up fares. It’s destroying people’s livelihoods.”
He said the policy change had not just affected drivers, but had also had a detrimental effect on customers too. People and businesses in rural areas are finding it hard to get taxis, and disabled people are being left with fewer options.
He added: “The increased costs and reduced incomes are forcing some drivers to sell their more expensive wheelchair-accessible vehicles and buy a cheaper saloon car instead. One guy had two of them and sold them both. It’s making finding a taxi even harder for disabled people.”
He said that he believes that NYC has not even followed correct procedures to create the single taxi zone, so any taxis operating outside their ‘home’ zones are technically breaking the law.
According to Cllr Brodigan, the decision was flawed from the outset, as councillors didn’t take into account the response to a question asked in a NYC survey prior to the council vote, which asked: “Do you agree or disagree with the proposal for a single zone for North Yorkshire?”. Fifty-two per cent of respondents – a clear majority – disagreed.
Mr Fieldman said: “The whole thing is just a mess. Council officers don’t seem to know what’s going on, and drivers aren’t being informed of new changes.
"It’s destroyed the taxi trade, not just for drivers, but for the public too.
“The council is due to review this policy in April to assess how well it’s gone. When they do, I’d urge them to bring back the seven local taxi zones, and reverse this massive mistake.”
Source: https://thestrayferret.co.uk/taxi-petition-urges-council-to-reverse-massive-mistake/
A local councillor has sparked a debate on passenger safety after claiming that using locally licensed taxis is safer than hailing an Uber.
A taxi driver was attacked and subjected to racist abuse after two brothers refused to pay him up front.
Christopher Hilling, 64, admitted to engaging a child in sexual activity at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday 8 August.
Abdigani Ebrahim, 38, of Grangetown, admitted charges of affray and criminal damage following the incident in Northcote Street, Roath, last July.
The crackdown targeted drivers operating across council boundaries to ensure public safety and compliance with regulations.
Lucio Valentino relies on his six-year-old Border Collie, Pixel, to help manage his mental health conditions, including depression and personality disorders.
Taxi drivers across the Fylde Coast are set to receive a briefing note aimed at clearing up confusion over out-of-area private hire vehicles.
Police are appealing to find a taxi driver who may have "vital clues" about the murder of Ryan Passey seven years ago since he was fatally stabbed in a Stourbridge nightclub.
A joint operation by Hull City Council, Wolverhampton Council, and Humberside Police has uncovered a number of safety issues with taxis operating in the city.
French taxi drivers are calling for government compensation after suffering significant revenue losses during the Paris Olympics.
Coventry city centre has introduced a new taxi marshal service aimed at improving safety and efficiency for late-night revellers.
A court heard harrowing details of the moment a drink-driving uninsured motorist killed three people in a 90mph crash.
The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans was amongst the thousands who enjoyed the Battle Proms at Highclere Castle on 3 August.
Swindon residents could be facing a hike in taxi fares from October after councillors gave the green light to a £1 increase in the standard fare minimum charge.
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.