Taxi Driver Online

Not sure what's going on with the Omicron grants here, and can't be bothered looking into the nitty gritty.

But Fife Council seemed to administer things pretty promptly, and my grant money was in the bank almost a fortnight ago

The RMT make some reasonable points about maybe some drivers having difficulty with the online application process, but it's not that onerous for someone who can do basic internet stuff.

And, more to the point, as far as I can tell it's exactly the same process as for the previous grants. Certainly was in Fife, and indeed it's a bit easier than the first time round, because they'll have most of your details already, and indeed the latest grants were conditional on receiving the previous grants.

Not sure if the stuff about needing bank statements is just the basic ID stuff again, but that should have been done last time round. Unless perhaps the council have started asking for bank statements as proof of loss of income, but that's not entirely clear from the article

And photo is a tad big for the forum, but there's a good reason for including it (see later posts...)


Warning Dundee families face ‘dire’ situation by spring over Covid taxi funding

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/du ... g-warning/


RMT rep Willie Lees (Image: DC Thomson Media)

Families in Dundee could face a “dire” financial situation within weeks as hundreds of taxi drivers struggle to access Covid-19 funding, it is claimed.

Union leaders claim an “onerous” application process has left many workers with little income since the end of the year.

Just over 260 drivers in Dundee have received money from the Taxi and Private Hire Driver and Operator Support Fund grants, made available by the Scottish Government – via councils – after coronavirus restrictions affected trade during December and January.

RMT says hundreds more drivers would be entitled to the cash but have had difficulties uploading bank statements and using online council forms to access the funding.

The union has now written to transport secretary Michael Matheson as a “matter of urgency”, asking him to intervene on the taxi drivers’ behalf.

Gordon Martin from RMT says the impact of the lack of income is “dramatic”.

He wrote: “Having listened to members concerns it appears to me that some councils have made this, as intended by the Scottish Government, a straightforward and simple process.

“Unfortunately I am advised the process currently in place at Dundee City Council is onerous, time-consuming and particularly difficult for several taxi drivers who struggle with electronic forms and how to adequately complete them.

“We are now in the middle of February and many of our members have had little or no source of income since the end of 2021.

“With there being no apparent willingness on the part of the city council to simplify the process, I have genuine fears that members and their families could be facing dire economic conditions before the spring.”

Willie Lees, Dundee RMT rep, says drivers are “struggling”.

He said: “The council are saying that 260 city taxi drivers have received money.

“We have 1,600 taxi drivers in Dundee. We want to know when the remaining 1,340 will get their grant money.

“The problem centres round the council asking drivers to upload banking details, which they already have, and bank statements.

“We don’t understand why they need to see bank statements. Apart from that, many of our drivers would not have any idea how to do this anyway.”

260 drivers already given taxi funding

A spokesperson for Dundee City Council said: “The council is following Scottish Government guidance for the administration of the Taxi and Private Hire Driver and Operator Support Fund grants and has to date paid out more than £263,000 to more than 260 claimants.

“If any applicant is struggling with the application process and lets us know, staff will be happy to help.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We are all too aware of the impact Covid-19 has had on business and the Scottish economy, including for taxi and private hire drivers.

£28m committed to Omicron support

“We have committed up to £28 million of Omicron funding support for taxi and private hire businesses – bringing our support for the sector since the start of the pandemic to more than £107m.

“Local authorities are working to deliver payments within two weeks of drivers and operators submitting the information requested and grants are being paid out.

“All local authorities have the same requirements and grant payments are already being made to drivers and operators.

“Recently published data confirms that as at February 4, £2.1m of the Omicron funding had been paid to the sector.”

There was another similar article on the Daily Record's website a couple of weeks ago, complete with photo op at Dundee's rail station, but didn't bother posting it on here, because there didn't seem much to it:


Dundee taxi driver slams city council over pandemic support grant delay

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scot ... y-26179003

Gregor Ross, from Fife, submitted his application for the £750 payout earlier this year but has yet to be paid.


Won't bother posting the full article, but this line made it obvious it was all about nothing, really:


In fact it was impossible to apply until early February, and only after the councils had gotten in touch on the basis that they'd paid you the previous grants. So when the article was published in early February, absolutely no surprise that the payments hadn't been made.

So although when the grants were announced the timeframe seemed a bit slow, it was well flagged up, although maybe the information didn't permeate down to many in the grassroots.

Anyway, when I saw the photo in today's article, thought it unusual because it looks like an LEVC, and can't recall seeing any about Dundee, and in fact can't be many LTIs of any age.

But, surprise surprise, when I looked back at the earlier article on the other website, couldn't help noticing the vehicle behind the driver in the photo op at the station rank:



So wouldn't be surprised if the link between the two articles is the RMT, although there's no mention of any union or association in the earlier article, and it sounds like it's simply an individual driver.