A lack of willingness from local taxi drivers to work later shifts is having an impact on the town centre’s night-time economy, Barnsley Council bosses have revealed.
According to the Barnsley Chronicle, council leader Sir Steve Houghton said there is ‘no doubt’ that the town centre needs a larger cohort of drivers as revellers have begun to shun the area due to a shortage of taxis and longer queues being encountered as a result.
Barnsley-based drivers have bemoaned out-of-town taxis encroaching on their patches - with some being licensed as far away as Wolverhampton during recent council spot checks - as well as a lack of safety when dealing with intoxicated passengers.
“We are seeing a loss of income coming into the town because people fear they can’t get a taxi home on a night ,” Sir Steve said.
“One of the reasons is safety and security, particularly for drivers.
“That’s particularly the case for hackney carriage drivers. We have seen taxi drivers operate during the day but not on an evening or a the weekend, which are generally the busiest times in the town centre.
“We’ve got to try and combat that.
“We’ve asked for funding to provide free cameras in every vehicle we have licensed - about 70, I believe - which will provide that extra security, helping both drivers and customers.
“I’ll fight tooth and nail to make sure it is agreed by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) and hopefully we can sit down then with the taxi associations and look at how we maybe can expand that even further.
“One of the things - clearly for any taxi driver these days - is being able to go to work knowing you will be safe.
“The free cameras is a small step but it’s hopefully one which will provide an inducement for drivers to work on nights and weekends.”
One daytime and two night checks were carried out in the run-up to Christmas by the council’s licensing officers, with stark differences being noticed in those plying their trade.
During the day, all 12 vehicles were Barnsley-registered, but every taxi stopped as part of the night-time checks were licensed by other local authorities.
Seven were from Sheffield, four from Calderdale, four from Rotherham and six from Wolverhampton - which is a 97-mile distance from the town centre but labelled as an ‘easy place’ to obtain a licence.
Others were from Leeds, Chesterfield, Wakefield and Bradford.
Licensing chair Cllr Steve Green added: “We’re addressing concerns and have had discussions with Veezu, which is now the town’s largest operator.
“They’ve told us that Barnsley-based drivers are prioritised if a fare comes in, but if there’s a ten-minute delay the job goes elsewhere.
“The customer demand is there, though, but as ever the principle consideration is public safety.
“Other councillors have raised concerns about the amount of taxis working in Barnsley over the weekend, and also the number of drivers licensed with other local authorities working within the borough.”
Hundreds of taxi drivers facing a new “punitive” penalty point system signed a petition urging councillors to drop the idea.
Brighton and Hove News reports that drivers, proprietors and operators would have risked having their licences revoked if they accumulated too many points for breaking licensing rules.
The aim was to ensure that drivers were “fit and proper” as required by law, according to Brighton and Hove City Council.
But after the scheme was debated at Hove Town Hall on Tuesday 13 February, councillors sided with the trade and rejected the proposals.
Trade rep Ahmed Abuorof presented the petition to the council’s Licensing Committee on behalf of hackney carriage drivers as well as private hire drivers.
Mr Abuorof said that there was a shortage of drivers joining the trade and said: “While we understand the importance of maintaining high standards and ensuring passenger safety, we believe the proposed penalty point system may be excessively punitive and does not take into account unique circumstances taxi drivers often face.
“As members of our local community, taxi drivers provide an essential service and they play a crucial role in our city transportation network.”
A report to councillors said that all of the 1,363 drivers licensed by the council were contacted before the consultation which received 69 responses.
Of those, 63 responses objected to the scheme including one from the GMB union which represents the trade.
Labour councillor Emma Daniel, who chairs the Licensing Committee, said that she and her deputy, Councillor Tobias Sheard, met every representative of the taxi trade who had asked to speak to them.
She made it clear that the proposals would add penalties to taxi licences, not driving licences.
Labour councillor, John Hewitt, who voted against the proposal, said that any scheme should ensure that drivers and operators functioned to a safe and high professional standard.
Councillor Hewitt said: “It should never be introduced as a means to punish them. I’m sure this obviously isn’t the intention of this scheme but it could be an unintended consequence of it.”
Formal warnings and training would be more effective, he said.
Another Labour councillor Faiza Baghoth was concerned that half of Brighton and Hove’s registered drivers were against the proposals.
Councillor Baghoth said: “On whose behalf are we trying to put this system in if the majority don’t want it.
“We’re supposed to listen to the majority of them. It’s the drivers who are concerned. In whose interest is it that we go forward with this point system?”
She was also concerned about subjectivity when it came to issuing points.
Green councillor Steve Davis also voted against the proposals during a “tough time” for the trade because of the “cost of living crisis” and increased motoring costs.
Councillor Davis also cited the rise of out-of-town licensed private hire drivers who operated with less strict Lewes and Chichester licences through Uber.
He said: “We have an outstanding professional trade who we should be trying to take with us on this. I just don’t think now is the time to be putting this report through.”
Councillor Sheard said that he understood driver concerns about a review and how points on their taxi licence could be a “terrifying” prospect.
The Labour councillor added: “Overall, this gives a consistency to the trade. They know where they stand with each offence. They know a worst-case scenario of what (each) offence means.”
Several nearby councils, including Lewes, Worthing, Mid Sussex, Rother, Wealden and Crawley, already have a penalty point systems in place, the committee was told.
The decision was not whipped, allowing councillors a free vote, and they rejected the proposals by seven votes to four.
A taxi driver who locked a passenger in his car before indecently assaulting her has been jailed for six months.
BBC News reports that Jabrane Moutiq, 40, attacked the woman in his taxi after picking her up in January 2023.
Douglas Courthouse heard the 40-year-old had touched her inappropriately and forced her to kiss him.
Sending him to prison, High Bailiff James Brooks said he had abused his "trust as a taxi driver".
Moutiq was placed on the sex offenders' register for seven years.
The court heard Moutiq, from Douglas, had been a taxi driver on the island for more than eight years.
On 15 January he had picked the victim up late at night and was driving her home but continued to drive on when she asked him to stop and let her out.
He then pulled into a car park, locked the doors and indecently assaulted her, the court was told.
Moutiq was arrested by police the following day and denied the offences.
The 40-year-old was found guilty after a trial at Douglas Courthouse late last year.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said the incident had left her "completely broken".
The court heard she had since been diagnosed with anxiety and depression and struggled with flashbacks, nightmares and panic attacks.
Prosecutors said the victim was a lone, single female and his actions were a clear "abuse of trust".
Mr Brooks said while there was no indication of remorse by Moutiq, the voluntary surrendering of his licence had demonstrated "some acceptance" of what he had done.
While his defence advocate had argued for a suspended sentence with supervision, Mr Brooks said he would not be doing his "public duty" if he did not sentence the 40-year-old to immediate custody.
He said Moutiq's actions had amounted to a "gross breach" of the trust placed in him as a taxi driver, and the victim had suffered "significant psychological harm" as a result of the "terrifying" incident.
A taxi driver was robbed at knifepoint by a group of masked teenagers during a terrifying early hours attack.
The Manchester Evening News reports that Manchester Crown Court heard that around 2am on July 7 last year, a taxi driver picked up Aiden Taylor (right), 18, Connor Fearnley, 20, and the two youths, who were under 18.
They said they didn't have enough cash for the trip, so they went to the Shell petrol station on Oldham Road. Taylor got out of the front passenger seat and walked to the driver's side of the car.
The others, who were wearing balaclavas, got out of the vehicle. One of the youths pulled out a large kitchen knife from his rucksack and pointed it towards the driver.
"You told him to get out of the car and give you the key," Judge Timothy Smith said. "You then got into the car and drove off."
Taylor drove the taxi, despite being 'highly intoxicated'. A high-speed police chase ended when the car crashed on Culceth Lane and they were all arrested.
"In that moment I felt very scared," the driver said in a statement. "My leg was shaking, I didn't know what to do. I felt like I just needed to save my life. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before."
At around 6.30pm on October 12, a man was riding home from work on an e-scooter. Taylor and Warren Mandarin, 18, set upon him and grabbed the scooter. A blade - described by a witness as a 'large machete' - was then pulled out.
When Mandarin was later arrested, police found the knife in his bedroom. "The incident has frightened me," the victim said in a statement. "I do not feel safe in the area where I live. I'm scared to go out and I'm scared to travel to and from work."
Taylor was locked up in a young offender institution for three years.
Fearnley was locked up in a young offender institution for three years and five months.
Mandarin was locked up in a young offender institution for two years and two months.
The youths were made the subjects of two-year rehabilitation orders, with unpaid work requirements.
Judge Smith told the gang: "The carrying and use of knives is regrettably only too common. There is a risk of danger to others, of causing serious and fatal injuries."
A rise in Dudley’s taxi licence fees, which are already hundreds of pounds more than neighbouring authorities, has sparked a row with drivers.
According to Halesowen News, the council’s service has been slammed as ‘appalling’ after a 2.3 per cent increase in charges for licences and other fees for the coming financial year was approved by members of its Taxis Committee.
A new three-year licence for a private hire vehicle or hackney carriage in Dudley currently sets a driver back £475.
The same licence in Wolverhampton costs £98, in Sandwell £352, and around £200 in Birmingham depending on the type of vehicle.
Shaz Saleem, spokesperson for Dudley Private Hire and Taxi Association, said: “I appreciate the council hasn’t put fees up for a number of years but the service level is appalling.
“The fees are ridiculous, there is no service – I would like to know how they justify it.
“A lot of drivers are going out of the council, we are losing drivers left right and centre.”
Dudley Council’s leader, Cllr Patrick Harley, hit back. He said: “It is complete and utter rubbish to suggest drivers are moving out of Dudley, in fact the opposite is true. We had 1,570 drivers licensed with us in January, which is 105 more than at the same time last year.”
Mr Saleem, a former Dudley councillor, says drivers are waiting too long for applications for licences and payments to be processed while extra vehicle checks the council insists on, he claims are ‘unnecessary and expensive’.
He said: “Drivers still have to get a normal MOT, are they saying drivers are driving illegally. No other council does this – it’s bonkers, they have no understanding of the taxi world.”
Cllr Harley dismissed the complaints, he said: “Where there are delays, our records show more often than not it is down to the driver for not supplying the correct paperwork or disclosing the correct information, or failing their knowledge test or driving assessment.
“I think the public would back us in making sure we are doing regular checks to make sure the vehicles they are travelling in are safe.
“In any case, the three-month checks are only for vehicles that are ten years or older.
“And I think they would also support us making sure we have done proper background checks on drivers before allowing them to pick up passengers. Unfortunately, that isn’t always a quick process.”
At the council’s Taxis Committee meeting, on February 12, councillors were told an increase was needed to make up for an £80,000 deficit in taxi licensing.
Councillor John Martin said: “We will have churn, this is basic business. This is going to become less viable, we need more income, what are we doing to attract more drivers?”
Committee chairman, Cllr Alan Hopwood, said: “We need to use our money better, it beggars belief our prices are so much higher.”
Cllr Harley added: “We are happy that our systems are robust.
“I am happy that our staff work as hard as they can to process applications as quickly as possible.”
Source: https://www.halesowennews.co.uk/news/24120238.taxi-licence-fee-increase-dudley-sparks-row-drivers/
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.
Worcester City Council is seeking public opinion on a proposal to make safeguarding training mandatory for taxi and private hire drivers.
A proposal to increase driver, vehicle and private hire operator licences was discussed on Friday 19 July 19 at Sheffield City Council’s waste and street scene committee.
Through this collaboration, FREENOW willl provide additional benefits giving drivers up to 25% off pay-as-you-go rates across the entire bp pulse electric charging network and discounted fuel at all UK bp branded sites.
Wakefield Licensing, working alongside West Yorks Police Roads Policing unit, NPT, Off-Road Bike Team, Police Intercept Team, DVLA & DVSA, held a Partnership Day of Action at Thornes Park.