Taxi Driver Online

South Ribble Council

Request For Taxi Tariff Increase
The committee considered a report of the Director of Planning and Development that
sought to inform members about a request from the taxi drivers of South Ribble for a
tariff increase.
The Licensing Manager explained that a written request had been received from the
Hackney Drivers Association Ltd for an increase in the tariff of charges set by this
authority. The request proposed the following changes to the current tariff charges:
 Tariff 1
For the first two tenths of a mile - £3
For each succeeding tenth of a mile - £0.25
 Tariff 2
For the first two tenths of a mile - £3.50
For each succeeding tenth of a mile - £0.30
 Tariff 3
For the first two tenths of a mile £4.50
For each succeeding tenth of a mile - £0.40
The Licensing Manager explained that the authority currently sat at 198 least
expensive out of 359 Councils recorded nationally. Within the local area South
Ribble was the third most expensive with a starting fare of £6.30. Drivers would not
be able to charge more than the tariff but could charge less if they wished.
Mr Charles Oakes from the Hackney Drivers Association Ltd addressed the
committee and explained that Drivers had just gone through a period of COVID and
were still in a recovery phase. The impact of COVID had affected both sides of the
trade and drivers were struggling. Mr Oakes advised that he had been asked to put
the fare increase in to the authority, taking into consideration the price of fuel, cost of
living and the price of parts for vehicles.
Mr Oakes explained that Drivers needed to make a profit as they were a business,
he had also submitted request to increase fares at other authorities.
In response to a member enquiry, Mr Oakes confirmed that he had around 30-40
Drivers licenced by South Ribble.
Members empathised with the trade but also expressed concern on how the
increase would effect residents, especially the elderly and vulnerable.
3
Licensing and Public Safety Committee Tuesday 6 September 2022
Members noted that all members of the public were feeling the impact of cost of
living and were concerned about the disproportionality of the proposed rise between
Tariff 1 and Tariff 3. Some members explained they would like to see a level rise, or
see a rise where those using Tariff 1 for shorter journeys would not be impacted as
heavily as those using Tariff 3 for longer or special journeys.
Members also noted that the cost of fuel had reduced significantly over the last
month, in some locations it had dropped by 20p a litre.
Councillor Chris Lomax proposed, seconded by Councillor Paul Wharton-Hardman
to refuse the taxi tariff increase but to invite the Hackney Drivers Association to put
forward an amended request for a taxi tariff increase.
This proposal was withdrawn following procedural advice from the committee’s
Senior Solicitor and Democratic Services Officer.
The Chair announced a short adjournment and the YouTube stream was ended.
Following the adjournment, the Chair re-opened the meeting and the YouTube
Stream recommenced. Licensing Officers had been permitted to stay in the meeting
room during their location to provide their knowledge and expertise to members.
Officers had no influence or involvement in any decision making.
The Chair explained that a lot of consideration had been given to the issue of tariff
increases and it was her view that it was worth examining in more detail in order to
allow the best outcome for all parties.
Resolved: (Unanimously)
It was proposed by Councillor Chris Lomax, and seconded by Councillor Paul
Wharton-Hardman that the request for a taxi tariff increase be rejected.
Members invited the representative from the Hackney Drivers Association to bring a
new proposal back to members at a later date, preferably with two or three
alternative increases.

_________________
C. Oakes


The Hackney Association Ltd
bbha@btinternet.com

Normal fares are T1 and T2. T2 starts at midnight.

Proposal was 30p on T1 flagfall, no change on T2 flagfall.

T1 running mile proposed to increase from £2.00 to £2.50.

T2 running mile proposed to increase from £2.50 to £3.00.

So presumably members had no problem with the flagfalls, but I'd guess the running mile increases were the sticking point (25% on T1, 20% on T2). And the meter starts ticking up at two tenths of a mile, thus the burden of the increased running miles would start relatively early and on shorter trips.

Odd way to portray it. It's 207 on the PHTM tables.


Of course, that's not the starting fare, it's the two-mile run on the PHTM tables.


No, I'm sure they never have their own agenda, nor seek to influence things

https://www.phtm.co.uk/newspaper/taxi-f ... gue-tables

https://www.southribble.gov.uk/article/ ... age-Tariff

What a farce of a meeting.

Those councillors should be ashamed of themselves.

_________________
IDFIMH

20% and 25% does sound like a large increase. How long since their last increase?
We’ve just had a 10% increase across all tariff’s passed unanimously by our council. I think a lot of it depends on how you present your case to the members (pun intended! ) we consulted with as many drivers as we could, 100 out of 180 drivers over a 4 week period. We gave them 3 options, no increase, a 5% increase and a 10% increase. The results were 1%, 4% and 95% respectively.
We then spoke at the meeting citing the huge increase in all costs of running a Hackney and played up to the “you want newer, cleaner, greener cabs” we need help to pay for them. We also have our own living costs to pay for. We told them it only works out at 2.5% over the 4 years since our last increase. Although the licensing officers are meant to be neutral it does help if you have discussed it beforehand with them.

Ah, well, this article from a month ago, er, contextualises it

So they'd no increase since 2015, then got 50p on the flag in April, but no mileage rise.

Which probably explains why they were now asking for a hefty mileage rise, but councillors obviously not playing ball.

And the previous thread suggests that some in the trade happy with the more modest rises, while Charles obviously in the vanguard of the more gung ho approach


Cabbies push for second fares rise in five months in South Ribble due to soaring cost of living

https://www.lep.co.uk/business/consumer ... ng-3831975

Cabbies in South Ribble want to put fares up for the second time this year because they are struggling to make ends meet.

Drivers have asked the council if they can increase their rates due to sky-high fuel prices and the soaring cost of living.

Taxi prices were put up on April 1 after cabbies complained their overheads had "gone through the roof."

Now they are looking for a second increase which would make South Ribble one of the costliest areas in Lancashire to travel by taxi.

The price hike will be debated by councillors tonight (Tuesday) when it goes before the licensing and public safety committee.

They will be told that a basic two-mile journey, which cost £5.80 back in February, will set passengers back £7.50 if the new rates are introduced.

In a letter to the council, the Hackney Drivers Association explained that rocketing fuel prices this year had threatened cabbies' livelihoods.

According to figures from the AA, the average price of a litre of diesel has risen in the North West from 148.7p in January to 196.1 in June. The cost of unleaded has also shot up from 145.4p to 188.4p over the same period.

"We understand that this request is coming soon after the other one in February 2022, but prices have continued to rise, not only for fuel but for food, gas and electric - with electricity set to go up again in October 2022," said Charles Oakes of the HDA.

He added that the drivers were "responding to significant economic factors" which the taxi trade felt needed addressing.

He also called on South Ribble to introduce a review every year "so the trade may move with the times and not fall back behind."

Prior to April 1, the last time taxi prices went up in the borough was 2015.

Currently a standard two-mile cab fare in South Ribble, which was £5.80 before April, is now £6.30. Only Fylde has a higher rate at £6.70.

If the new price rises are adopted by the council that figure would climb to £7.50, meaning the fare would have risen £1.70 in a matter of months.

The proposed rates are:

Tariff 1 (6am to midnight): £3.00 for the first two-tenths of a mile plus 25p for every one-tenth after that. Back in February that figure was just £2.20 plus 20p.

Tariff 2 (Midnight to 6am): £3.50 plus 30p compared to £3.00 and 25p at the start of the year.

Tariff 3 (Christmas and New Year): £4.50 plus 40p compared with £4.00 and 35p.

Back in January the taxi drivers were allowed a price increase after telling the council "the cost of living has gone through the roof."

They said it wasn't just the cost of fuel, but also other costs from running a car including repairs and servicing, insurance and the growing price of vehicles both new and used.

In neighbouring Preston the hackney carriage drivers there were also allowed to put prices up by around 11 per cent back in June after they claimed they could not afford to run their cabs on the existing rates.