Couple of interesting and comprehensive pieces from Derby. First one is from six months ago, but can't recall reading it. Not sure if the consultancy encouraging cross-bordering is still around - it's obviously had a website at one point, because it can be found via Google, but it seems to have been taken down.
The second piece is from today and is a more conventional article on the cross-border scenario. But the comments from Derby council echo those from Coventry
Firm offers service that would help Derby cabbies get licences outside of cityhttps://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/d ... elp-735875Taxilaw Consultants Ltd's work is legal but the city council isn't happyA company is offering a service that would help Derby taxi drivers get licences outside of the city.
The move is increasing fears that Derby City Council will find it more difficult to control taxis in the future.
Taxis and drivers licensed in Derby undergo checks and their vehicles are subject to tests by the authority.
But increased charges and the introduction of a points-based assessment scheme have led many drivers to look elsewhere for their licences.
The deregulation of taxis allows drivers to get their badges and licences elsewhere and still drive in Derby – weakening the city council’s control over them.
Now Derby City Council says it has become aware of a company called Taxilaw Consultant Ltd offering a service that could help cabbies get their licence elsewhere and that it was working with Albatross Cars.
A council spokesman said: “We are aware that a private company, Taxilaw Consultants Ltd, has been working with Albatross Cars Ltd offering a service to help them apply for private hire driver badges.
“Doing so allows drivers to take advantage of different licensing regulations in different councils. On top of this, we understand that drivers will need to source their own vehicle licence which must be with the same council.
“This process is legal and therefore we are unable to prevent drivers from following this route but it highlights once again why we believe taxi drivers should be licensed in the area in which they operate.
"We would encourage Albatross and all our operators to take a responsible approach and only use Derby licensed drivers and vehicles as per the example set by Western Cars.”
Western Cars has previously condemned the practice of getting licensed outside of Derby but had also raised concerns it would not be able to recruit enough drivers willing to be licensed in the city if it was to stick to its principles.
A poster has apparently been circulated on social media inviting drivers to meet “Wolverhampton City Council” at Albatross Cars in Derby, where they would be helped to get their badges sorted at a cost of £550. The poster promised delivery of the badges within two weeks.
One outraged Derby taxi driver said: “Some drivers are already licensed through Rossendale Borough Council but, from February, a new rule by the borough council means they won’t be able to work in Derby and so drivers are being encouraged to get licensed in Wolverhampton. This is not good news for Derby passengers.”
A Wolverhampton City Council spokesman denied it was directly involved with Albatross Cars or Taxilaw Consultants Ltd and said: “We are aware that a company does assist drivers to get badges but we do not deal directly with them and we are now investigating how our name came to be on the poster.”
Taxilaw Consultants Ltd said it was doing nothing wrong and added that it had not been representing any one local authority and was not involved with creating the poster.
Louis Stelling, of Taxilaw Consultants, said: “Legislation allows legitimate sub-contracting of work between licensed operators across designated borders.
“In regards to the poster, we were only made aware of it on Wednesday when we met with a representative of Derby City Council.
“To confirm, no council markets this and we certainly don't advertise or hold ourselves to be representatives for any local authority. We do not even advertise our services in this regard, it is operators whom request it of us."
Mr Stelling added: “We can categorically state that any concerns regarding public safety and welfare are utterly unfounded.
“In this case, Wolverhampton City Council has stringent background checks, a challenging knowledge test and thorough three-hour course that all drivers and operators are required to undertake and pass. Their safety checks and standards are of the highest order and they've been roundly complimented on such within the industry.
“Some local authorities have failed to adapt to the changes over the last 24 months while others have changed, become more efficient and have invested in their systems and structures. Wolverhampton is just one of these. Their application turnaround time and customer service is quite frankly second to none and, rather than attract the ire of other councils, it should be consulted and adopted.”
Mr Stelling said his company specialised in helping drivers undertake the application process, organising courses and tests, undertaking the relevant paperwork on behalf of the drivers and making sure anything related to the process was done correctly and efficiently.
When Derby City Council introduced new rules in July, they included a requirement to have basic skills in IT, English and maths costing an additional £150 to study for. This requirement has been dropped for now. The cost of licensing in Derby is still around the £500 mark, up from around £300 or so previously.
A spokesman for Derby Area Taxi Association (DATA), a newly formed organisation representing both private hire and hackney carriage drivers, said: “Unfortunately, due to the deregulation act, operators using vehicles not licensed in their own city is a country wide problem and not just Derby.
“Therefore, as no operators are acting unlawfully, DATA will not be making a comment on this subject until the problem has been remedied by the Government.”
Despite a request for a comment from Albatross Cars, no-one has returned the Derby Telegraph's calls so far.
Who's taking your children to school? Influx of taxi drivers spark fears in Derbyhttps://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/d ... il-1712570Around 1,000 new drivers are thought to be operating in Derby after registering elsewhereConcerns are growing that Derby children are being taken to school by taxi drivers registered outside of the city, where checks are feared to be "less strict".
Private hire drivers are being registered by a number of councils for as little as £69 - and they can then operate anywhere in the UK.
Taxi drivers registered in Derby, where a points system exists to check on previous offences, are angry on several fronts.
Many say the taxi market is becoming flooded nationally, with the additional drivers putting existing ones at risk of being out of work.
Others claim Derby parents do not know who is driving their children to school each day, due to what they call a "lack" of stringent checks on drivers registered outside of the city.
Additionally, taxi vehicles registered outside of Derby cannot be checked for potential faults by other than the authority where they are licensed. Derby City Council is therefore powerless to take any cars not registered in the city off the road.
One taxi driver, who did not wish to be named, said: “There is a complete lack of control over who is driving in Derby and has been registered elsewhere under less strict conditions.
“How can people be sure that the person who is driving them, or their children on the school run, is safe if they do not go through stringent checks.
“The influx of drivers registered elsewhere is ruining the livelihoods of Derby drivers and they are having to work more than 60 hours a week just make ends meet.
“There are at least 1,000 out-of-town taxis operating in Derby currently and many Derby drivers estimate they are between £200-£250 a week worse off as a result. They are very angry."
Problems have arisen since the national deregulation of taxis more than two years ago, which allows drivers to get their badges and licences elsewhere and still drive in Derby – lessening the control Derby City Council has over them. But increased charges and the introduction of a points-based assessment scheme in the city have led many drivers to look elsewhere for licensing.
When Derby City Council introduced new licensing rules almost 12 months ago, they included a requirement to have basic skills in IT, English and maths costing an additional £150 to study for but this requirement has been dropped for now. The cost of licensing in Derby is still around the £500 mark - up from around £300 or so previously.
Derby City Council confirmed that private hire operators in the city that have contracts with schools are able to use any licensed driver they wish and they do not necessarily have to be licensed in Derby.
Councillor Mick Barker, cabinet member for governance and licensing, said: “Private hire vehicles and drivers registered in one city, and working in another is not uncommon. This process is legal, meaning that unfortunately, we are unable to prevent drivers and operators from following this route.
“Our licensing system is one that we trust, and so of course it would be our preference that only Derby licensed drivers and vehicles worked in the city, however that simply isn’t feasible.
“This problem is not unique to Derby; other areas experiencing similar ‘migration’ of hackney and private hire vehicles by their manipulation of the legislative framework.
“Such is the concern that the situation is being addressed with some urgency through the Local Government Association directly with legislators in Parliament.
“We would encourage all of Derby’s operators to take a responsible approach and only use Derby licensed drivers and vehicles.”