Taxi Driver Online

Taxi trade left with £30k bill after bid for more cabs in Halton

A would-be taxi driver’s failed attempt to lift a cap on cab numbers in Halton will end up costing the trade £30,000.

Halton Council shelled out £15,000 in legal costs last year after John Roberts took it to court over the rejection of his application for 13 taxi licences, and then another £15,000 on a court-ordered survey to prove there was no demand for more taxis in the borough.

The council had rejected Mr Roberts’ original application on the grounds it would exceed the borough’s cap on taxi licences, but the judge ruled the cap was based on out-of-date statistics and ordered the council to carry out a new survey of demand for taxis.

However, a meeting of the council’s regulatory committee on Wednesday evening heard that the survey backed up its original decision to keep the cap on cab licences at 267 as there was no significant unmet demand for taxis in Halton.

Indeed, the survey, finally completed in April this year, found that there was no unmet demand for taxis at all.

Cllr Tony McDermott said he was “galled” by the costs incurred by the council, given the “overwhelming evidence” in support of its position.

He said: “Who is going to receive the bill for carrying out all the work and the court costs in particular? Surely it can’t be right that what turns out to be a frivolous appeal costs us £30,000?”

John Tully, the borough’s solicitor, explained that the costs would be clawed back from Halton’s existing taxi drivers over the next five years.

He said: “The costs are borne by the hackney carriage trade, there’s no other way of this happening.

“What we’ve done, we’ve notified the trade of the costs but we have not said they must be repaid over the minimum period which is one year.

“We have spread the cost over the five year period. I think the trade have been quite appreciative of that.”

In light of the evidence from the new unmet demand survey, the committee decided to reject Mr Roberts’ application again and recommend that the council’s executive board keep the cap on taxi licences at 267.

Mr Roberts did not attend Wednesday’s meeting.

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IDFIMH

Who would have thought that during the worst medical crisis this country has had for 100 years, when the country was on full lock down, that there wouldn't be any significant unmet demand.

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IDFIMH

Best he acquaints himself with taxi licensing law then.

In three years time he will have to spend another £15,000.

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IDFIMH

Do not think it is correct for the trade to have to pay for a survey that was ordered by the court.
Surely the Council would have claimed their court costs off Roberts as he lost the appeal.

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