Taxi Driver Online

Hundreds sign Cheltenham taxi drivers' petition as dispute with council rages on

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/n ... rs-5292636

Cheltenham Borough Council accused of putting jobs at risk over wheelchair access ruling


Image: Paul Nicholls/Trinity Mirror/GloucestershireLive

Hundreds of people have signed a petition aimed at getting Cheltenham Borough Council to think again about its planned change to licensed taxis.

The authority agreed in March 2018 that all of its hackney carriage licensed vehicles would in the future have to be wheelchair accessible.

The deadline for drivers to have the correct kind of vehicles is fast approaching, as it is due to come into force in December this year.

Drivers have protested about the planned change before because they say it threatens to put some of them out of a job.

They say it costs between £22,000 and £35,000 to buy a wheelchair accessible vehicle and, especially with their trade having been greatly reduced by the pandemic, they have not been able to save up the money they need.

Their petition calls for the council to delay the implementation of the new policy for two years.

It adds: "The council has been approached regarding the delay of the upcoming policy but has refused to show any understanding or compassion to the taxi trade. Most drivers have not been able to work properly for a year now and have received very little in the way of financial support.

"[Cheltenham Borough] Councillor [Andrew] McKinlay has stated that the drivers have had enough time to save the money to buy a new WAV but the reality is that most drivers have had to use any savings to get them through this year.

"If there is no delay to the policy, many drivers will be forced out of work. We would also like to point out that councillors got an automatic one-year extension to their term of office due to this pandemic."

So far, 362 people have signed the petition.

Ilesh Magatlal, who works on the taxi ranks at Cheltenham Spa Railway Station and the Promenade, said: "I am one of the Cheltenham hackney carriage taxi drivers that have been hit hard by the current economic crisis due to the pandemic.

"We are asking the public to help us. It's a humble request."

He said the drivers had tried several times to get the council to consider delaying the implementation of the new policy but it had turned them down.

It was a worrying time for people like him, he said.

"A lot of us are going to end up losing our jobs on the first of January."

What the council said

Louis Krog, the council’s licensing team leader, said: “In May 2020, the council’s cabinet considered a request from the Cheltenham Taxi Drivers Association to delay the implementation of the wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) policy. Cabinet agreed that it would not support this request and that the decision taken to implement the WAV policy by December 2021 should remain in force to ensure publicly available transport is more inclusive and accessible to all.

“The reasons were published and recognise, amongst other things, that the WAV policy decision that was taken in 2018 gave licence holders sufficient time to plan and prepare for the transition. Delaying the implementation, would penalise other licence holders who have already changed their saloon vehicles to wheelchair accessible vehicles.

“The implementation date will remain as December 2021.”

That means hundreds of licence holders have been penalised in the likes of Dundee for nearly a couple of decades now.

I don't think that is unreasonable.

Maybe they could change to a policy of WAV on vehicle renewal.

No one can afford a new WAV at the mo, and if even some folks might have had savings to put towards a new WAV before March 2020, they sure don't have it now.

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IDFIMH

Another Council claiming that public transport in this case hackney carriages should be available and accessible to all,have they given the same finacial support to hackney carriages as they give to other forms of public transport of which not all are fully accessible to all,I very much doubt not.

Have they taken into consideration that not all disabled persons can access a WAV vehicle thus they fall foul at the first hurdle of their policy which implies that WAVs are accessible to all when they are not.

Mixed fleet policy is the policy that should prevail.

Problem with that is that no one wants to volunteer a WAV, everyone thinks everyone else should stump up, not them.

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IDFIMH

Interestingly, Cheltenham one of the councils which at the same time have started a consultation on common licensing standards across Gloucestershire. Cheltenham seems to be the lead council on the consulation, which is hardly a surprise. This seems to the press release:


Gloucestershire councils hail route to taxi plan

https://www.punchline-gloucester.com/ar ... -taxi-plan

Local authorities in Gloucestershire have started a joint consultation to draw up a common licensing standard for taxi and private hire services in the county.

Each district, borough and city council in the county currently has its own licensing policies but have developed a proposed common standard with South Gloucestershire Council.

Cotswold District Council chief executive Robert Weaver said: "Through our licensing team we are responsible for working with taxi and private hire drivers and companies to make sure we hit the high safety standard we all expect.

"This joint approach across Gloucestershire will make sure we are all working to national best practice and that safety is of the highest importance."

The councils said the common standard would reduce unnecessary administration for businesses operating across council boundaries.

Cheltenham Borough Council director of environment Mike Redman said: "Public safety and protection is the cornerstone of licensing.

"Through this consultation, the licensing authorities around the county have shown a commitment to partnership working to produce common standards based on national best practice.

"Having common standards means residents and visitors to Cheltenham and elsewhere in the county can be assured the highest possible public safety standards are applied to taxi and private hire licensing for the safety and protection."

The consultation, which opened today, runs until June with information here:

https://www.cheltenham.gov.uk/info/39/l ... estershire

But, conveniently in light of the WAV thing, it doesn't include vehicle standards:


But it does include CCTV, although that'll be consulted on at a future date:


All of which is presumably consistent with the DfT stuff, but to be honest I've never gotten into the nitty gritty of that.

But there's the DfT stuff, then dozens of different councils doing their own consultations on implementing it, then these combined authorities/super councils/megazones, or whatever you want to call them, with each of the Glocs councils all doing their own consulation, and of course other consultations to follow on other matters

The combined Glocs consulation is nearly 30 pages alone

So they are consulting on a common approach on matters.

Apart from the difficult bits.

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IDFIMH

I know it is not WAVs but I asked the Council here to extend the date that vehicles had to come off the road by 1 or 2 years to help the drivers whose cars were coming close to the 10 year age limit. The Council were basically in agreement with this but several drivers bought newer vehicles before the end of the tax year so now it seems that these drivers don't need any help.

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Grandad,
To support my charity text MAYORWALK to 70085 to donate £5

Since when has every driver's financial circumstances been the same.

Two close taxi mates of mine are property millionaires, thus aren't going to struggle too much financially. However many many many more of my colleagues haven't got a pot to pi** in.

We should be worrying about those in the sh**, not those who are comfortable.

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IDFIMH

This is the problem nation wide, Councils think all TAXI and private hire proprietors are coining it in, this pandemic has decimated this trade financially and it must not be forgotten that a huge number of proprietors have had no financial help whatsoever consequently any savings that may have been held have gone.
The people who are making and forcing through these decisions have not suffered financially nor ever do, their wage is guaranteed to be payed by the Council during this pandemic, they even decide if we should receive any monies from the government grants for Councils to distribute to businesses in their Council District. They have even managed to make a pigs ear of that, some of us have received nothing and those lucky enough to get anything have received differing amounts depending on their Council District.

Can't really see anything new here apart from the fact that the petition will be presented to the council shortly


Cheltenham taxi drivers call for delay for all cabs to be wheelchair accessible

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/n ... ay-5526897

Hundreds of people have signed a petition which will be presented to Cheltenham Borough Council next week

A petition signed by almost 800 people will be presented to Cheltenham Borough Council calling on the authority to reconsider its planned change to licensed taxis.

The council agreed in 2018 that all hackney carriages in Cheltenham would have to be wheelchair accessible from January 2022.

But cabbies say these changes threaten to put some of them out of business as it costs between £22,000 and £35,000 to buy a wheelchair accessible car.

They also say the pandemic has hindered their opportunity to save up the money needed for the upgrades.

Their petition, which has been signed by 793 people and will be presented next week, calls for Cheltenham Borough Council to delay the implementation of the new policy until 2024.

“The council has been approached regarding the delay of the upcoming policy but has refused to show any understanding or compassion to the taxi trade,” the petition reads.

“Most drivers have not been able to work properly for a year now and have received very little in the way of financial support.

“[Cheltenham Borough Councillor Andrew] McKinlay (LD, Up Hatherley) has stated that the drivers have had enough time to save the money to buy a new wheelchair accessible vehicles but the reality is that most drivers have had to use any savings to get them through this year.

“If there is no delay to the policy many drivers will be forced out of work.

“We would also like to point out that councillors got an automatic one-year extension to their term of office due to this pandemic.”

There are currently 206 Hackney carriage licences in Cheltenham however only 66 of these are for wheelchair accessible vehicles.

The borough council says the licence holders have had sufficient time to plan and prepare for the changes.

They say that changing the implementation of this new policy would penalise licence holders who have already changed their saloon vehicles to wheelchair accessible vehicles.

And they say there is financial support available to the trade that is aimed at those affected by the pandemic.

Councillors will consider the petition and make a decision at a meeting on June 21.

I think we were discussing the issue of WAVs in Cheltenham a few years before TDO started.

FFS get on with it one way or the other.

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IDFIMH

Not much to see here (again) and the first part of the article is just the umpteenth rehash, so I've missed that bit out.


Taxi drivers fear they could be out of business if changes go ahead

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/n ... ut-5559847

“The pandemic is still there and our trade is being affected by it"

[...]

A petition by signed by 793 people calling on the council to delay the implementation of the new policy until 2024 was presented to the council this week.

However, councillors unanimously backed a recommendation to continue with implementing the new policy.

But customer & regulatory services cabinet member Martin Horwood said that his intention is to continue to talk with the public and members of the taxi trade.

Taxi driver Ilesh Mugatlal said the trade has really been struggling during the pandemic and a delay to the new policy would really help them.

“A lot of drivers managed to buy second hand wheelchair accessible vehicles and are going to carry on with the trade,” he said.

“But it’s a tough time for us. We thought the council could be more understanding and take into account the times we’ve just been through.

“The pandemic is still there and our trade is being affected by it.

Mr Mugatlal, who is mainly based at Cheltenham Railway Station, said the situation has improved slightly as lockdown restrictions have eased.

But trade is still down compared to before the pandemic.

"If I spend a whole day at the station I can do about five jobs,” he said.

“It’s better than six months ago when we were in total lockdown. We would sit there for up to four or five hours for one job.

“At the moment we can get one trip every one or two hours.”

Prior to the pandemic they would do around 15 trips a day.

“It’s not even half of that at the moment. It’s very worrying.”

Councillor Horwood said he understood the taxi drivers have had a very difficult time since they considered the policy in 2018.

He says he is willing to have genuine discussions with them over the planned changes.

“I understand with no night time economy, no trade from Cheltenham Festival and no shoppers for much of this time they have had a torrid time of it,” he said.

“The starting point for this debate is the fact that only 66 out of 200 hackney cabs are currently wheelchair accessible.

“That compares with all 19,000 London cabs, every cab in Birmingham and the West Midlands, every cab in Reading and almost every cab in Bristol.

“I’m new to this portfolio and I’m absolutely genuine with my offer to engage both with the accessibility forum, disabled people in Cheltenham and members of the taxi trade.

“I want to look at this policy in detail and also think ahead to the inevitable replacement in the future of these vehicles with electric or other low carbon vehicles.”

Over the last 2 years the price of second hand cars has risen quite dramatically so the difference between a Wav and a saloon isn't so much now (talking second hand here)

the real problem is punters hate Wav's so it's a case of buy a wav and watch your takings drop and I really don't think councils understand that

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Taxis Are Public Transport too

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