Shocking numbers of Slough taxi and private hire vehicles have been found to have “serious issues” during spot checks including one driver with no licence.
According to the Slough Observer, Slough Borough Council officers teamed up with Thames Valley Police to conduct random inspections on the borough’s licensed fleet.
Half of the ten vehicles checked were found to have issues, including one with an unlicensed and uninsured driver. The vehicle in question was seized by Thames Valley Police and the licence suspended.
Others included two drivers who were given points on their private hire drivers’ licences for failing to display their badges.
Councillor Puja Bedi, lead member for transport, housing, highways, the environment, and environmental services, said: “It is so disappointing to hear that during these random vehicle stop checks, a high number of the taxis and minicabs stopped had serious issues.
“It is particularly shocking that one driver was unlicensed and uninsured when people trust these drivers with their safety.
“Thank you to the licensing team and to Thames Valley Police for their continued hard work to keep our roads safe.”
In addition, one driver was cautioned by police for speeding and one vehicle was found to be displaying an expired licence in spite of an application being made and a new plate being issued.
Source: https://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/23698734.spot-checks-show-serious-issues-among-slough-taxis/
An Edinburgh private hire driver has been accused of falsifying documents so he could continue operating.
According to the Edinburgh Reporter, Shakti Singh faced having his licence suspended as a result when he went before a meeting of the council’s Licensing Sub-Committee on Tuesday 25 July.
In the report, published online, officials said Mr Singh was no longer considered “a fit and proper person” to hold a licence following “an admission of deliberate falsification of a licence document” by Mr Singh.
The council was first contacted in April by ride-hailing app Bolt, through which the driver operated, to report the alleged incident.
Bolt, which requires its drivers to provide proof of both themselves and their vehicles being fully licensed, said Mr Singh “had uploaded a potentially falsified document,” adding that as a result it had suspended his account and he was unable to accept bookings.
At an interview with council officers in May he then “admitted to changing the expiry date on the private hire car licence document before submitting it to Bolt,” the report said.
It added Mr Singh stated that because the original owner of the vehicle had sent him the original licence document dated 2023 “he thought he could change the date to 2024”.
The report continued: “This appears to be an admission of deliberate falsification of a licence document and amounts to inappropriate behaviour for a person working as a licensed driver.
“It is sufficiently serious to call into question Mr Singh’s continued fitness to hold a licence, and hence the request for suspension of the licence.
“The directorate recommends that the licence is suspended on the grounds that Mr Singh is no longer a fit and proper person to be the holder of the licence.”
Mr Singh was invited to attend the council’s licensing sub-committee on Tuesday when a final decision was to be made on whether he should be allowed to continue operating as a private hire driver.
Despite the report outlining the allegations being available to read online, the meeting was held in private and the council said it was unable to confirm how councillors voted.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service was previously informed that press and members of the public would be able to attend the sub-committee at the City Chambers, but we were asked to leave ahead of the meeting starting and were told the meeting was to be held in private.
Edinburgh Council later said that as the meeting was held in private the results also had to be kept confidential.
Source: https://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2023/07/private-hire-driver-accused-of-creating-false-documents/
Three Leeds cabbies are at risk of losing their licences after falling foul of controversial new rules.
The Y.E.P. reports that under a policy adopted by the city council last year, cabbies who clock up nine points on their licence for minor motoring offences can be stripped of licence. The threshold had previously been 12 points.
The change was bitterly opposed by the Leeds Private Hire Drivers Organisation (LPHDO), who claimed it was unfair and disproportionate, but the council said it would improve passenger safety and was it brought in under government guidance.
The local authority also insisted that revoking a licence would be a last resort, with training offered in the first instance.
Now, it’s been revealed that three drivers are due to face hearings within the next couple of months after being among the first in Leeds to breach the nine-point threshold.
The council’s licensing committee was told on Tuesday 1 August, that all three had previously been given training after falling foul of the rules before.
The committee voted to extend a 12-month pilot, brought in when the policy was introduced last summer, to have all such cases decided by a panel of councillors, rather than by licensing officers.
It means those hearings can go ahead.
Ahmad Hussain, the chair of the LPHDO, said he wanted all potential punishments of drivers to go before councillors in public to ensure transparency in the process.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Hussain said: “We’re happy they introduced that system and we’re glad they’re extending it, but we’ve always said sub-committees have to be there for all suspensions and revocations – not just for minor motoring offences.
"It’s far better to have that decided by what is effectively a jury, rather than by an officer.”
The LPHDO also welcomed a new council initiative allowing drivers to work for two cab firms. The move, announced recently in the form of a pilot scheme, brings Leeds into line with other authorities in West Yorkshire which already allow the practice.
Deputy council leader, Debra Coupar, said the scheme would give drivers a “much-needed boost during the cost-of-living crisis”.
But Mr Hussain said the policy should be adopted permanently. “It’s been brought in to stop the exodus of drivers leaving Leeds,” he said.
“This should have come in a long time ago. It’s better late than never, but some would say it’s too little too late.
“If it’s something completely new for the industry then we’d understand the need for a pilot. But why do they need to do a pilot scheme when it’s already happening in local authorities all around them, such as in Bradford and Wakefield?”
A taxi driver was refused a new licence by Vale of White Horse District Council after it emerged he failed to disclose key information in his application form.
The Oxford Mail reports that Hekuran Gjeta, 45, who had successfully obtained licences in 2013, 2016 and 2019, claimed not to have realised he needed to tell the council when he renewed his licence in 2022 about a 2009 police caution for threatening behaviour or that in 2011 Oxford City Council had refused to grant him a hackney carriage licence.
But a judge and two magistrates rejected his explanations, telling an appeal hearing at Oxford Crown Court that the council licensing officers had been right to refuse his application last summer.
Delivering the panel’s judgment on Friday July 28, Recorder Alexander McGregor went through the council’s four reasons for refusal set out in a letter to Gjeta in August 2022.
First, the driver had failed to disclose a 2009 police caution for threatening behaviour.
“We find that the appellant had no proper excuse for that non-disclosure,” Recorder McGregor said.
“Moreover, he knew it was relevant to his licence application because that very caution had been put to him in person in 2011 when he applied unsuccessfully to Oxford City Council for a hackney carriage driver’s licence.
“So, for that reason we find there was no excuse for that non-disclosure and therefore it was deliberate.”
The judge said: “Secondly, the applicant was refused a licence by Oxford City Council in 2011 and that was not declared to the Vale of White Horse District Council when he applied to them.
“In evidence, the applicant sought to excuse this failure by saying that he thought he’d only been refused by Oxford because he’d failed the knowledge test and he wasn’t therefore aware this was something he needed to disclose to the Vale of White Horse.
“However, that cannot be right because the caution and his behaviour towards staff were put to him at his meeting with Oxford City Council in 2011.
“He therefore knew it was those matters which were being taken against him when he was refused the Oxford City Council licence.
“His explanation that he thought he had been refused that licence simply because he failed the knowledge test does not stand up to scrutiny.”
Turning to the failure to declare a conviction for speeding he had received in February 2021, Recorder McGregor told the court: “It’s clear from previous application forms that the appellant knew that speeding offences were disclosable and that he has had more than one of those in the past.”
Gjeta gave ‘no satisfactory – or, indeed, any answer’ for failing to disclose a police ‘community disposal’ received in May 2022.
“Even if there were no other matters to consider we consider that the appellant would not be a fit and proper person to hold a hackney [licence],” the judge said.
“He has exhibited dishonesty in his dealings with the council in regard to the licence application process.”
The bench ordered Gjeta, from Oxford, pay £1,000 in costs to the council after his appeal was thrown out.
The expected date for mandatory CCTV in Swindon taxis and private hire vehicles may slip.
According to the Swindon Advertiser, last September members of Swindon Borough Council’s licensing committee authorised the licensing manager to draft a policy on mandating CCTV in both hackney and private hire vehicles – and to bring it back to the committee.
The aim was to start on January 1, 2024, for new licence applications and April next year for renewed licences.
But the council’s head of regulatory services, Kate Bishop, told the committee that staff shortages had put the work towards the back burner: “Within the last ten months a number of licensing officers and the licensing manager have left the borough council.
“This has meant that the progress expected has not been made as the resources and expertise have not been available.
"As a result, the timeline and work requirement are currently being reviewed.”
Chairman on the committee Cllr John Ballman said: “We’ll let this go back on the agenda for the September meeting and we’ll see where we are then. Hopefully it will be sorted.”
The council has been discussing and consulting on bringing CCTV into all taxis and PHVs in the borough since at least 2019.
Drivers have expressed concern with making it mandatory owing to the cost and also privacy and security issues.
At least 14 cars have been damaged since June, with drivers suffering financial loss and emotional distress.
The attack happened at around 12.45pm on Etruria Vale Road, Stoke, when the victim, driving a Toyota Avensis, was punched in the face by one of the men.
Cumberland Council has taken decisive action to protect public safety by revoking the licence of a taxi driver charged last week with a serious racially aggravated offence.
A historic bridge has been closed indefinitely after an Uber car became wedged on Saturday morning.
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).