Taxi Driver Online

If these guys are moaning about a rise from £94 to £120 for a three-year badge then I don't think it's the kind of thing they should be drawing attention to

(Unless there's an error in the article, and it's actually £120 for a one-year badge, but the article definitely says it's for three years, so even with the rise it seems quite cheap.)


North-east taxi drivers slam planned increase in licence fees

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/new ... ence-fees/


Duncan McKay, left, who works at Allways Taxis in Inverurie and Paul Anderson, managing director at Central Taxis (Image: Aberdeen Evening Express)

A planned increase in taxi licence fees across Aberdeenshire has been slammed as “an extra cost” by one driver.

A review of fees is currently being carried out by the local authority, with proposed increases including drivers having to pay £120 for their three-year licence – £26 more than currently.

Vehicle licences, granted once a year and costing £206, would rise to £245 under the proposals.

The letter sent out to all licence holders in the region says the increase is required to “cover the costs” for processing the licences.

However, Duncan McKay, operator at Allways Taxis in Inverurie, said the proposals would just add an additional financial burden on drivers.

He said: “We have received a proposed increase in rates from Aberdeenshire Council.

“It’s just an extra cost. It’s extra money that we’re not really benefiting from.

“We’re paying enough as it is at the moment. Everybody is tight for money, not just the council. It’s quite expensive to say the least.”

An Aberdeenshire Council spokeswoman said: “All costs associated with providing the licensing service must by law be met from licensing income.

“As a result, increases are being considered across a wide range of businesses/activities licensed by the council including market operators, metal dealers and late-hours catering, among others.

“For taxi drivers a fee of £120 is proposed.

“The average fee across Scotland is £212.72 and, in comparison, the proposed fee in Aberdeenshire would be the third lowest in the country.

“We are currently in the process of consulting on the proposed changes.

“We would encourage all those affected to complete our online survey at surveymonkey.co.uk/r/H3F6D52”

The survey is open until January 17, allowing a decision to be made by the February licensing sub-committee, with any new fees being introduced from April 1.

yup well cheap mine is up for renewal soon and i'm sure the annual increase will have come in bet it's above £200 this time plus dbs +medical

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

Taxi operators outraged at council for getting no face-to-face consultation for proposed hike

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/ne ... osed-hike/


Image: Jim Irvine/Press and Journal

Taxi operators have criticised Aberdeenshire Council for failing to hold public events allowing them to raise concerns about a drastic increase in fees.

The local authority has proposed the rises for a range of businesses and activities to cover costs, but owners of taxi companies claim they are being unfairly treated.

Paul Anderson, managing director of Central Taxis, and William Gauld, managing director of Allways Taxis are incensed at how the increases are being implemented.

The pair expected to get the chance to voice their frustrations, but the council has confirmed no public meeting will be held about the fees until the Licensing Sub-Committee decides whether to approve the changes.

Mr Anderson said: “For companies like ours, these fee increases are a lot. Window cleaners work similar length days to us but their fee is going up £3.

“Instead, we get a £26 rise for driver licence fee, £39 rise for vehicle licence, a £35 rise if we want to change the vehicles and now have a £40 charge for a vehicle substitution if one is away for a test.

“There are roughly 4,000 taxis in Aberdeenshire, so for driver fees alone that has gone from the council getting roughly £376,000 to £480,000.

An Aberdeenshire Council spokesman confirmed the council was working on “a timeline” for the next fares review, but added that “by law” all licencing costs must be met from licencing income.

Mr Gauld said: “I would guess 90% of school buses and taxis are from private companies, so what are we meant to do?

“I’ve been driving taxis for 17 years and my driver licence was £40 for years until a couple of years ago it rose to £81 and then again to £94.”

The survey is available at http://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/H3F6D52 until January 17.

Yes, I'm sure councils compare the length of taxi drivers' working day to window cleaners' hours when setting licence fees


Assumed an extra zero had been added in error there

According to the last stats there were 470 taxis, and 296 PHVs.

There are something like 1,900 badges, though, so I suppose if it's just a vague reference to the total number of licenses (plates and badges) issued by the council then the 4,000 figure isn't maybe off the scale completely. But the "4,000 taxis" claim at face value is nonsense.


The survey includes a list of the current and proposed fees.

But crucially it doesn't say how long the licence duration is. So no clarification re my earlier point - if it's £120 for a three-year badge then I think they should be careful what they wish for.

To be fair, if it's to be £245 for a one-year plate then that's certainly not cheap. But if the rankings stated in the survey are correct, then about a third of Scottish councils have higher plate fees, so not off the scale either.

And what law is that then?

_________________
IDFIMH

Section 12 Civic Scotland Act 1982

Indeed, but note that section only applies to vehicle licences, thus plates and not badges.


The Act covers various types of licenses (except liquor), and the badge fees I think are covered by Shedule 1 of the Act, which is a complex and lengthy part about procedural stuff etc, and not recommended for casual reading:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1982/45/schedule/1

Anyway, the relevant part of the schedule seems to be this:



Please note:

- I suspect the second sub-para 15(1)(b) above should actually be (d)

- For pedants, because it's a schedule to the Act rather than part of its main body, I think the parts are referred to as paragraphs rather than sections

- Not really sure why *plate* fees are singled out for the main part of the Act, while *badges* are relegated to the Schedule along with tattoo artists, scrap metal dealers etc.

Think I once read that it was something to do with the testing etc that's routinely required with regard to vehicles, which doesn't apply to other licences, so it had to be more specifically stated, but to be honest that doesn't really make that much sense to me.

Anyway, our fees have always been reasonable in Fife, so it's not anything I've ever looked at too closely. In 2017 I was £145 for a three-year badge, and £460 for a three-year plate, which includes everything except retests and substitutions.

So although the badge fees have went up quite substantially in the past few years (I was £100 for the three year badge in 2014, and I think my plate fee this year will have gone up a good bit) they could certainly be a lot worse, so for me it's a case of letting sleeping dogs lie, sort of thing