Also noticed this on a related point - it's mainly about the first two paragraphs, but have included the whole section here to contextualise it:
NPHTA wrote:
During the second session, operators were asked by Elsie Blundell how many
operating offices they maintain in each region in which they operate. Uber
responded that they have offices in “all of them” and stated that they comply
with the triple lock rule.
This assertion was challenged by highlighting that Uber has only one operating
office in the City of Manchester, which covers the entirety of Greater
Manchester and its ten constituent local authorities, including Manchester,
Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, Stockport, and Salford. Furthermore, that same
Manchester office also onboards drivers and vehicles licensed by authorities
such as Rossendale, Wolverhampton, Burnley, Nelson, and others. This can be
clearly seen in the lists presented to drivers when selecting the areas covered
by the Manchester office.
This practice is fundamentally inconsistent with compliance with the triple lock
rule, which requires that the operator, driver, and vehicle are all licensed by
the same local authority. This principle was clearly tested and upheld in Milton
Keynes Council v Skyline Taxis and Private Hire Ltd [2017], which reinforced the
fact that the triple lock rule had not been affected or removed by the
deregulation act 2015, and highlighted the requirement for proper alignment
between licensing authorities.
Bolt stated that it operates multiple offices and has a large compliance team
dealing with each local authority, making it therefore more compliant with the
triple lock requirements, while Veezu declared that it maintains offices within
all regions in which it operates, demonstrating full compliance with not only
the triple lock rule, but also the “sub-contracting” provision of the deregulation
act 2015.
Not sure what the claim is here - they're saying what's going on is incompatible with the triple-lock requirement. But where's the evidence those cross-border cars working in Manchester - but badged and plated by Wolves or Knowsley - aren't complying with the triple lock by working in conjunction with a Wolves or Knowsley operator's licence.
That's not really incompatiable with 'onboarding' all taking place in what the Uber rep called a 'very large greenlight hub' in Manchester and used for 'onboarding' and customer complaints, or whatever. Rightly or wrongly, that's how the whole cross-border thing worked even before 2015, as Delta demonstrated on Merseyside.
In my opinion the NPHTA might have had more of a substantive point if they'd claimed that the 'operator' in terms of cross-border cars is more of a sham/artificial construct/brassplate office or whatever, as opposed to anything more substantive. But not that the law isn't being complied with per se.
Maybe in fact that's what the NPHTA
is saying, effectively, but the point could maybe have been made more precisely, and more focused on exactly how the operator thing works in the context of cross-border working.
Of course, the likes of Wolverhampton licences 400+ operators other than Uber. So 400+ operators largely from the legacy trade working cross-border. And quite possibly members of the NPHTA
To that extent, maybe the NPHTA doesn't want to draw too much attention to the whole cross-border operator thing, and instead concentrate on Uber in Manchester
