Taxi Driver Online

This covers quite a lot of bases, but doesn't go into anything in particular detail.

And, maybe relevant to a point made by Jimbo recently, almost makes it sound like the council is employing the drivers rather than simply being responsible for licensing them.


Lancaster taxi shortage putting passengers and public at risk

https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire- ... s-22207340

A shortage of staff in the city council’s own licensing team is another priority issue

A shortage of taxi drivers across the Lancaster and Morecambe district is being tackled with a recruitment campaign and other action by Lancaster City Council including an appeal to former drivers with expired licenses to return and cut-price training courses.

The shortage of hackney and private hire taxis is creating risks to public safety, people getting home safely, and disorder and crime, according to a licensing team work plan and report being reviewed by councillors on the district’s Licensing Committee.

Other issues such as the impact of Covid-19 on taxi drivers, rising fuel costs hitting drivers’ earnings and firms’ profits, the level of passenger fares, vehicle tests and driver training courses are among factors being looked at.

Councillors on the Licensing Committee are being asked to approve a licensing team work plan for 2022. It highlights various issues relevant to taxi passengers and drivers, gives updates on recent work and suggests priority tasks for next year.

Local authorities regulate the taxi trade which includes fares and checking the that drivers are ‘fit and proper’ persons. Checks include drivers’ character and history, their right to work in the UK and criminal convictions, cautions or reprimands.

The transport and driving sectors are undergoing various changes, with shortages seen locally and nationally with long distance HGV drivers and bin lorry drivers hitting the headlines.

Regarding taxi drivers in Lancaster and Morecambe, the city council’s Licensing Committee report states: “There is a reduced number of drivers, locally and nationally. One project has been to increase the number of licensed drivers operating in the district, both hackney carriage and private hire. The scope of this work has been to promote the role of becoming a taxi or private hire driver and to work alongside partners to assist applicants.

“A college course is full in November, due to reduced cost of £100 instead of £220. The council wrote to all expired drivers, 97 of them, and asked them to use a fast-track application procedure. A social media and Job Centre campaign is highlighting the work.”

A shortage of staff in the city council’s own licensing team is another priority issue, the report states. The team aims to fill the post by February 2022.

Taxi vehicle tests represent another factor which might be putting off drivers. The current system is described as labour intensive with excessive steps in the process. Changes are needed to the city council’s on-line vehicle test booking system to make it easier for drivers to book tests. The council will also reintroduce a paid service called Licensing Direct and personal licensing courses. with the aim of re-launching in April 2022.

Taxi ranks on streets are also being looked at too.

The workplan report states: “The reason is to improve availability of hackney carriages to the public. Lancashire County Council intends to conduct a review of hackney carriage ranks across the county. The city council welcomes this and would seek to work with the county council and Lancaster’s hackney carriage trade. The trade should be invited to provide written proposals regarding taxi rank provision at the earliest opportunity .”

It adds that road works on central Lancaster’s ‘gyratory’ road system could lead to significant changes which would cause disruptions. So consultation about taxi ranks with the trade should be done as-and-when needed. A number of taxi ranks have already been updated, the report adds.

The city council’s website shows there are currently 373 registered dual-license drivers. The hackney carriage register has 108 license-holders and the private hire register has 38.

The city council has registered with the National Anti-Fraud Network. Its services include providing information on taxi and private hire license refusals and revocations, DVLA driver and vehicle information, number plate recognition, fraud and crime prevention, investigations, credit and bank account checks, and trading standards work.

Does that mean 'working alongside operators and proprietors', perchance?


Does that mean councils can use the National Anti-Fraud Network to check credit ratings and bank accounts?

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

Why does this council, and others, (all?) think it is in their remit to encourage drivers to become taxi / private hire drivers?

By offering sweeteners in the form of reduced fees for training courses, etc. Training courses in what, pray tell. “Safeguarding” no doubt. Otherwise known as doing the job of social services, police and schools. How to speak nicely to passengers, how to safely load and unload a passenger in a wheelchair, even if you’ve been capably doing that for over twenty years, how to tie your shoelaces, how to walk and chew gum. You all know what I mean. Councils, and councillors have spent their time spending taxi drivers money on introducing WAV’s lovely colour schemes for vehicles, etc, etc, etc. Without any consideration for the cost burden on the vehicle owner.
Seriously, what training does a taxi driver, who is new to the trade need?

Is there any wonder that no one wants to do the job anymore? You won’t find me out at 4am on a Sunday morning trawling the streets for a drunken, drug addled punter who thinks I’m going to rip them off. I’ll stick to the day job.

And it’s only a matter of time, months maybe before my council decides that all hire vehicles must be all electric no matter what the cost, we must save the planet, after all.

BTW, Volvo admitted this week that to produce an electric car the carbon footprint is 70% HIGHER than a petrol diesel car, and it would take seven years to equalise the two.

To be concise, councils have made it as difficult as possible to get a licence, and now people cannot be arsed to jump through the artificial hoops on the route to becoming a taxi driver.

Consider this: why do councils all insist on drivers having medicals?

Is it to dutifully maximise customer protection, or is it, as I believe, councils protecting themselves from litigation should something go tragically wrong?

_________________
Former taxi driver

Taxi licensing the same as many other functions is a competition between councils to see who can make themselves look the most up to date and they all blindly copy one another

so now they are realising that the nice little money pot is not so full of readies as it once was and are panicking

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

No.

Any data processor passing on that kind of info to a council in respect of licensing matters would soon find themselves in court.

_________________
IDFIMH

The people that have left the trade have done so for a number of reasons.

I'm struggling to see if any of those reasons have suddenly disappeared.

_________________
IDFIMH

Agree with a lot of what you say, although I'm all in favour of tougher standards. But problem is all the virtue-signalling, tangential stuff like dementia and slavery awareness etc rather than basic stuff like tariffs and charging, or when you can refuse a job, or dealing with the related issue of card payments.

And I'm not keen on 'training' either, as opposed to something where the onus is on the applicant to do the necessary, most obviously a Knowledge of London-type hurdle (not that I'm suggesting it should take three years to get a badge, but just that it should be up to the applicant to get up to the neccesary standard rather than just turning up to a couple of lectures).

And, by the same token, much of this 'training' seems to be just a box-ticking exercise, and more for council PR purposes and a dripping roast for 'providers' rather than about actually raising standards.

Of course, with the current 'shortage' it's a whole different ball game, but certainly no 'shortage' where I am, and to that degree my thinking on this hasn't changed, but can't really see anything changing here, because it couldn't really be made any easier to get a badge unless they dump medicals and disclosure checks.

But interesting how over lockdown the debate outside the trade (if it's debated at all) has swung from addressing the 'gig economy', low earnings etc, to now not being enough drivers, and making it easier to get a badge etc.