Taxi Driver Online

26th January 2007

Dear Cllr Wigglesworth

Re: The buying and selling of taxi licence plates.

I refer to the buying and selling of taxi licence plates, the transfer of which is expressly forbidden under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (The Act). To transfer a plate is therefore illegal.

However, in direct contravention of the Act, the council allows licences to be transferred under the process of "incorporation", indeed it is complicit in the process. I am sure you are familiar with this process but here is how it works.

The single licence plate number is "incorporated" amongst a group of individuals, the buyer pays a sum of money through a verifiable contract and his name is added to the group, later the seller's name is removed and the plate is transferred. Thus, this single plate number , the same one, is transferred from seller to buyer.
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There is no other area of licensing where this process applies, because in no other areas of licensing is there an artificial restriction of the number of licences allowed to operate.

I draw your attention to the advertisement placed in yesterday's Scotsman newspaper on page 57 and in last night's Evening News on page 37, centre top.

03 METRO CAB & PLATE, offers over £60K invited, radio position and test approved.

Please note that there is no dubiety here. It is a combined sale of all the component parts of the advert.

The value of the Metro cab, given that they are no longer in production, may generously be estimated around £10,000. There is no inherent value in this particular radio position as it does not enjoy any intrinsic marketable value through the company it is with, Comcabs.

Therefore, by simple arithmetic, the value being placed on the (non-transferable plate) is around £50,000.

Now, given that plates are non-transferable, it suggests that there is some skulduggery being enacted here and an unsuspecting buyer may be persuaded to part with this substantial sum of money for something he doesn't know he can never own, and may be withdrawn at the council's discretion.

Isn't it reprehensible for the council, and the councillors in charge of and who approve the process, to be complicit in such transactions where, because of its policy which encourages them, unwary members of the public are in danger of being preyed upon by taxi plate "sellers" with the ultimate loss of considerable sums of money, perhaps even life savings or crucial redundancy payments, because they want to buy a job?

If the council refuses to put an end to this odious practice, then I make formal request that the council bring a prosecution against this licence plate operator, on the basis that he is falsely describing for sale something which isn't sellable, under the Trades Descriptions ACT 1968, which requires that "any descriptions of goods and services, given by a person acting in the course of a trade or business, should be accurate and not misleading", or other relevant legislation e.g. the sale of goods and services, fraud, theft etc.. Please confirm in writing what action you propose to take in respect of this.
The council can no longer deny that this disgraceful practice is going on. Today it is an unreasonable £50,000. At the current rate of increase it will soon be £60,000, £70,000 and in a few years only it will have increased to £125,000 and more, all dependent on the insecurity of drivers wanting to secure their employment because the council refuses to grant them their own plate. Your council policy simply allows the problem, and potential financial hardship, to become worse.

When we arrive at the £125,000 plate, will the council still be maintaining that plates are non-transferable and stoically defending their position of no significant unmet demand? And how many other councillors will have drifted towards private hire interests, which will have increased exponentially on the back of this policy to artificially restrict taxi licences.

Clearly, the unreasonable buying and selling of taxi licence plates is unjustifiable, unsustainable and morally bankrupt. That it should be allowed to continue will be your decision. However you should be fully aware that knowledge, which you now have, makes you responsible, accountable and culpable.

It is long overdue for the council to re-examine its restriction of taxi licences policy. Perhaps it is time to ask how it came about in the first instance, who it serves, who is benefiting and the damage it is inflicting, not just on those who are persuaded to "buy in" to something they don't own, but also to the drivers who work in the trade and the poorer service enjoyed by the customers because of it.

Finally, should this be allowed to continue, I will be calling for a full public inquiry into this illegal practice, the council's complicity in it and the way the council has conducted trade affairs over recent years.