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PostPosted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 11:07 am 
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A misprint on the *policy* change means the PH knowledge test is dropped, until after the May elections at least :?

But guess which word about the *policy* change the article manages to misspell? :lol:


Council blunder means private hire cabbies don't have to do 'knowledge' test

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/p ... re-6919621

Only new hackney cab drivers now have to learn the map of city streets after Plymouth City Council misprint accidentally got voted through

A Plymouth City Council blunder has meant new private hire taxi drivers won’t have to take the famous “knowledge” test of the city’s streets. Councillors voted to accept a controversial new taxi licensing policy in March 2022 - but a misprint that wasn’t noticed meant they approved the test for new black cab hackney drivers only.

So, from May 1, 2022, anyone who fancies becoming a private hire driver won’t have to spend days scrutinising the map of Plymouth, learning its geography and the best routes to get a passenger from A to B. The council said it may now have to amend the policy but can only do this at a full council meeting, which can’t be called until after the May local elections.

It is the second taxi-related embarrassment to hit the council in a matter of days after it emerged signs directing the public to new city centre taxi ranks had not been put in place. Hackney drivers said they were losing income because patrons didn’t know where to find a taxi while the traditional Old Town Street rank was out of commission due to city centre redevelopment works.

Martin Leaves, secretary of the hackney cabbies’ Plymouth Licensed Taxi Association (PLTA), said the latest council gaffe is damaging for the overall taxi profession and said it could shake public faith in the service. He said: “We think everyone should do the knowledge test, it’s part of the skills needed.”

He added: “Some people say not having the knowledge test would make it quicker to recruit drivers, but do we want them driving around using a satnav? We want drivers to be professional, and to be professional they should do the knowledge test.

"These are serious times, we want to protect women against violence and need to make sure we have professional drivers, particularly for people with learning difficulties. You wouldn’t want someone to do your electrics if they were not fully qualified, and no one wants to get in a taxi where the driver doesn’t know where they are going.”

Plymouth councillors approved the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy 2022 at its March full council meeting. The police has been dogged with controversy because it removes the limit on hackney cab numbers and insists the famous black cabs are coloured green and white by 2027.

The council had wanted to remove the necessity of private hire drivers having to pass the the Knowledge of Plymouth (KOP) Topographical Test as a prerequisite to getting a licence. It had argued a hackney cab is for immediate public hire, and needs instant knowledge of the fastest route, whereas a private hire must be pre-booked so can determine the route prior to picking-up the passenger.

But this suggestion had been dropped. The document the councillors voted on, however, still contained the wording “Topographical Knowledge of Plymouth (KOP) test (for hackney carriage applications only)”.

A Plymouth City Council spokesperson said: “Unfortunately the line in the taxi licensing policy stating ‘for hackney carriage applications only’ in reference to the KOP test should have been removed. However, because this was approved at full council the policy will be implemented as published. This means that from May 1, 2022, all new private hire applicants will not be required to complete the KOP test. We are sorry for any confusion caused and will be reviewing this to determine whether to return the policy back to full council.”

Meanwhile, hackney cab drivers are still awaiting signage to be placed in the city centre informing people of the locations of new ranks. Plymouth City Council has admitted that due to a “misunderstanding” contractor Mildren Construction had not put up any signs. The authority apologised for the foul-up and promised to rectify the situation.

Mr Leaves said he had waited 40 minutes at the new rank in Cornwall Street, before anyone got in his taxi. He said the average wait in Old Town Street was about 10 minutes. He said some drivers had reported waiting more than three hours on the new rank and said signage needs to be in place without delay. He said: “Drivers are getting really anxious.”


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 1:03 pm 
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well if councils will adopt these silly plain English rules which bar the use of the ampersand all of this could have been avoided :roll:

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:36 pm 
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StuartW wrote:
whereas a private hire must be pre-booked so can determine the route prior to picking-up the passenger.


I love it when this is used as an excuse for PHV not needing to do a knowledge test.

Ask any PHV how many jobs they get that

Doesn't have a destination on the job as it was an IVR
Doesn't have a destination as the office couldn't be bothered to ask/put it on the system
Only has a general area/district
Only has 1 drop-off point when its a multi drop.
Wrong address
Passenger changes destination on route
etc

My record for the number of consecutive jobs without a destination due to points 1 & 2 above was 16 jobs one Saturday night.


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:53 pm 
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Quote:
So, from May 1, 2022, anyone who fancies becoming a private hire driver won’t have to spend days scrutinising the map of Plymouth, learning its geography and the best routes to get a passenger from A to B. The council said it may now have to amend the policy but can only do this at a full council meeting, which can’t be called until after the May local elections.

If the knowledge test was the only criteria then maybe they have an issue.

However the DBS and medical on their own could take many months, so I doubt there will be a huge influx.

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 4:27 pm 
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This proves Officers con Councillors and Councillors do not read what is in front of them, I think the Hackney trade representatives have not read the new policy documents either and raised their concerns about this so called misprint before it went to Committee.


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PostPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 10:41 am 
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heathcote wrote:
I think the Hackney trade representatives have not read the new policy documents either and raised their concerns about this so called misprint before it went to Committee.

Then think again.
No input was allowed - the chance was at the Consultation Stage. I don't think any Councillor even looked at it, too busy voting out the Council Leader and playing Party Political games to consider any of the serious business at hand.

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:16 pm 
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Chris the Fish wrote:
heathcote wrote:
I think the Hackney trade representatives have not read the new policy documents either and raised their concerns about this so called misprint before it went to Committee.

Then think again.
No input was allowed - the chance was at the Consultation Stage. I don't think any Councillor even looked at it, too busy voting out the Council Leader and playing Party Political games to consider any of the serious business at hand.

Being in the mix before anything is decided is a mark of good local representation.

Shame it seldom happens.

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 10:50 pm 
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Shame they pay no attention to it when it does!

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PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2022 11:56 am 
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Council taxi blunder corrected so Plymouth private hire cabbies again have to do 'knowledge' test

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/p ... th-7119759

"If anyone wishes to withdraw from the application process they will be offered a full refund.”

A Plymouth City Council blunder which meant private hire taxi drivers didn’t have to take the famous “knowledge” test has been corrected. Back in March, councillors voted to accept a controversial new taxi licensing policy but a misprint that wasn’t noticed meant they approved the test for new black cab hackney drivers only.

That error meant for a three week period, anyone applying for a private hire taxi licence wouldn’t have had to take the test. However, following last Friday’s full council meeting, the mistake has been rectified.

Plymouth City Council said that made it clear to new applicants that the policy was likely to be returned to Full Council and therefore maybe subject to change at any time. They have apologised for any confusion and will offer a full refund to anyone who know wishes to withdraw from the application process.

Following the decision, it means that anyone who fancies becoming a private hire driver will once again have to spend days scrutinising the map of Plymouth, learning its geography and the best routes to get a passenger from A to B. The amendment to the policy was approved at last week’s full council meeting.

A Plymouth City Council spokesperson said: “There was an error in the original Taxi Licensing Policy published in March, which advised that you only needed to complete the Knowledge Test (KOP) if you wanted to become a Hackney Carriage Driver. We have always made it clear to new applicants that the policy was likely to be returned to Full Council and therefore maybe subject to change at any time.

“The corrected policy, which requires all new applicants (private hire and hackney carriage) to complete the KOP test was approved by Elected Members at Full Council on Friday, May 20. This means that all new applications or those still in progress can only be approved once all of the pre-requisites, including the KOP test, have been completed.

“We are sorry for any confusion caused. If anyone wishes to withdraw from the application process they will be offered a full refund.”

The amended wording to the policy now means that once again, before an application for a drivers licence can be approved, the individual must have passed a medical, submit an Enhanced DBS and Certificate of Good Conduct, Driving Standard’s Test, Safeguarding training, Plymouth Ambassador training and the Topographical Knowledge of Plymouth (KOP) test.


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PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2022 6:42 pm 
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Good that they have rectified the problem they caused.

Equally good, IMO, is that no one is going to benefit from that mistake.

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