Taxi Driver Online

Councillor opposes plan to increase taxi fares in Malvern

https://www.malverngazette.co.uk/news/1 ... s-malvern/

PLANS to increase taxi fares in the Malvern Hills area have been criticised by a leading councillor.

Malvern Hills District Council's executive committee is due to decide whether to increase the fares by 10 per cent – the first rise in more than five years.

Taxi drivers say the increase is needed because of the rise in the living wage, inflation and council tax, as well as bus and train tickets being increasingly more expensive.

But town and district councillor Samantha Charles opposes the proposed fare rise.

Cllr Charles, of Labour, who represents the Chase ward and sits on the town council's operations and planning committee and the district council's planning committee, said: "Malvern Hills taxi fares are already the most expensive in Worcestershire at £6.40 for a two-mile journey compared with Redditch, where it is £5.30 after a review only last year.

"The challenges that community transport may face with increased permit costs this autumn would force more people in semi rural areas who don’t live on bus routes into taxis.

"Their pensions are not higher than those in the rest of the county so why should they pay higher taxi fares?"

The call by the town’s taxi drivers would mean the basic fare for a one-mile journey would rise to £4.40 – up from £4.

The cost of a two-mile journey – which is already the most expensive in Worcestershire – would increase from £6.40 to £7.

The charge for each subsequent mile would also increase by 20p to £2.60 – a rise of eight per cent.

Only the basic fare for journeys would increase, if the plans are approved, with late-night, Bank Holiday, Christmas and New Year prices staying the same.

Taxi fares have not increased in Malvern since 2014.

Malvern Hills currently ranks joint 22nd in a table of the most expensive fares in the country, according to figures published by Private Hire and Taxi Monthly (PHTM).

The average fare for a two-mile journey in the country is £5.91 according to PHTM.

Alistair Smith, who represents hackney carriage and private hire taxi drivers in Malvern Hills, said the living wage had risen by 30 per cent since the last fare increase in Malvern and taxi fares would have to rise by around 15 per cent to cover the cost.

Benefits had also been frozen for the last three years under the assumption that wages are rising, he said.

Mr Smith also said council tax had risen by 4.4 per cent in Malvern Hills last year, train fares had risen by 15.5 per cent since 2014 on the grounds of having to fund wage rises and said it would be “difficult to justify refusing” a 1.9 per cent yearly rise for taxi fares.

Mr Smith said two-mile fares would now be at £7.17 if the previous ‘accepted’ increases had been carried through yearly and the council would be “effectively demanding a significant fall in taxi fares over the last five years” if it rejected an increase to £7.

If councillors agree to the fare increase, the proposals would go to public consultation and accepted as long as no objections were raised by the council.

Malvern Hills District Council’s executive committee meets next Tuesday (September 17) to discuss the proposal.

So the trade want, basically, a 2% rise a year since the last increase and the Councillor is having a hissy fit.

Shame on her.

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IDFIMH

Sounds like taxis in that area are already quite pricey so she has a point but in my experience council policy is always to keep fares as low as possible (but not licensing fees )

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

They should push for annual increases rather than these 5 year jumps. At 2-3% per year the punter will barely notice the difference, whereas they'll definitely notice if they're suddenly £8 instead of £7 to get home.

Council says no to 10% taxi fare increase in Malvern - for now

https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/17 ... ern---now/

A CALL for a ten per cent increase in taxi fares in Malvern was rejected - but prices still might increase in the future.

Malvern Hills District Council's executive committee rejected a call by the town's taxi drivers to put up prices by ten per cent to £4.40 for a one-mile journey but agreed to meet to find a compromise.

Taxi drivers argued the increase is needed because of the rise in the living wage, inflation and council tax as well as rises in bus and train tickets.

Councillor Peter Whatley said some of the justifications for calling for an increase were “entirely irrelevant” and the decline in fuel prices had not been mentioned.

He said: “None of the changes quoted or unquoted are essentially relevant in supporting an increase.

“Even the current MHDC fares are on the high side and I would suggest any increase is extremely questionable.”

The national average fare for a two-mile journey is £5.91 – eight per cent cheaper than the existing fare in Malvern and 16 per cent below the proposed increased fare.

The cost of a two-mile journey – which is already the most expensive in Worcestershire – would increase from £6.40 to £7.

Taxi fares have not increased in Malvern since 2014.

Cllr John Raine, portfolio holder for environmental services, said the plan should be rejected but the council should work with taxi drivers to find a compromise.

He said it was important that all residents had good access to affordable taxis.

Cllr Tom Wells said it was a “sensible and pragmatic” to find a compromise rather than going with a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ approach.

He said the cuts to bus services left people with no other option but to use a taxi but could not understand why fares in Malvern should be any higher than the national average.

Cllr Wells suggested concessionary travel, which the council helped with for community transport in Malvern, could also be extended to taxis.

Cllr Paul Cumming said he did not want to create a problem by preventing an increase and it was important taxi drivers were given the chance to explain the reasons behind their request.

Alistair Smith, trade representative for hackney carriages and private hire taxis in Malvern, said the living wage had risen by 30 per cent since the last fare increase and fares would need to rise by around 15 per cent to cover the cost.

Only a basic fare would increase under the proposal with late-night, Bank Holiday, Christmas and New Year prices staying the same.

Now PHTM's list of fares has defo led to an increase in national fares, IMO, but where it can be a pain is when you have councillors quoting it to keep fares down in their areas.

Maybe PHTM should copyright it and not let councils use that info if it's going to be used by officials/councillors to keep fares down.

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IDFIMH

it is also the most ridiculously inaccurate list of anything in the UK the NPHA should be being prosecuted for putting out false statistics. It should in no way be used to estimate or calculate fare increases

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Our Council ask for bench marking to establish if a fare review is justified. Referring to the list in PHTM is the easiest way of doing this. However the Melton figure is incorrect.

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Grandad,