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Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
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Author:  Sussex [ Mon Sep 12, 2022 8:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
Taxi fares in West Northants to increase by nearly one third under council plans to merge fares

The cost of an average five mile Hackney cab journey in West Northamptonshire would increase by almost 50 per cent under new plans from West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) to hike fares across the unitary area. It is the first time fares have gone up in parts of West Northamptonshire in 14 years.

The decision on whether to impose a single unified fare across the three former districts is due to be made by Cabinet members at WNC at their meeting Tuesday, September 13. Under the proposals, the minimum a Hackney carriage can charge for a journey will be increased to £2.40.

Under the current system, Hackney cabs still follow the fares set out by the former district councils in Daventry and South Northamptonshire and Northampton Borough Council. These councils were unified under a single WNC in April 2021, whilst cab fares remain varied throughout the area.

At their meeting, Cabinet members will determine whether to support a proposal to increase taxi fares across West Northants. WNC is bound by law to do this now the area is under a single authority.

Council papers show the last time fares were increased in Northampton was in 2013, whilst South Northamptonshire has not seen a rise in fares since 2008. Hackney fares in Daventry rose more recently, in May 2019.

As it stands, Hackney cabs in Northampton charge a minimum of £2.20 for a day journey, with a five mile journey costing a maximum of £12.20. In Daventry, the minimum is £2.20 in the day, with a five mile journey capped at £11.60.

South Northants, which includes Brackley and Towcester, has the lowest fare, with the minimum set to £3.40 for the first mile of a day journey. A five mile journey here currently costs a maximum of £9.80.

Under proposals from the Taxi and General Licensing Committee, a new unified minimum of £2.40 would apply across West Northants. The cost of a five mile journey would be increased to a maximum of £14.40.

The proposals mark an 18% increase in the cost of a five mile journey in Northampton, and a 24% increase in Daventry. The cost of a similar journey in South Northants would also skyrocket by a huge 46%, an average of almost 30% across West Northants.

Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Member for community safety and engagement, and regulatory services, said: “Many businesses and residents will have been impacted by the increasing cost of living, in particular the cost of fuel. As a Council, we have received requests from our local licensed drivers to consider an increase to fares."

Earlier in the year, 114 Hackney carriage drivers across West Northants were asked to respond to WNC's proposals. 39 responded, all of whom were in favour of an increase and welcomed the new fares.

Coun Smith added: "We are committed to working with both our businesses and residents to ensure that any such increases are balanced between responding to the increase in fuel prices while looking to minimise the impact on our residents."

WNC have said the proposed tariff sets the maximum that licensed taxis can charge. Each driver can determine if they would like to charge less.

The fare increase will be decided by the Cabinet at their next meeting on Tuesday, September 13, at 6pm.
Author:  Sussex [ Mon Sep 12, 2022 8:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
Quote:
The cost of an average five mile Hackney cab journey in West Northamptonshire would increase by almost 50 per cent under new plans from West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) to hike fares across the unitary area. It is the first time fares have gone up in parts of West Northamptonshire in 14 years.

Maybe that 50% rise will help to cover the 100% rise in fuel costs since 2008.
Author:  grandad [ Tue Sep 13, 2022 6:57 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
£2.40 flagfall??? That is a bit low in my opinion. The Hackney flagfall here is £3.00 and our minimum is £3.40
Author:  edders23 [ Tue Sep 13, 2022 11:09 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
that depends officially ours is £1.70 but that's because our council always excludes any mileage from the flag

most local vehicles now are £1.90 flag
Author:  StuartW [ Tue Sep 13, 2022 11:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
Yes, Grandad, I mean...

Quote:
In Daventry, the minimum is £2.20 in the day, with a five mile journey capped at £11.60.

Daventry 211 on the PHTM tables, but that's assuming £6.20 for the two-mile run, while the council's own figure is £5.60, which would put them well over 300 on the tables.

So I'm guessing the PHTM table is wrong for Daventry. My spreadsheet doesn't quite concur with the council's figures, but it's a consistent 20p discrepancy throughout the fare range, so it's more consistent with the council's numbers than the PHTM figure.

So the official tariffs certainly tight, but the problem with unifying the fare structure is of course that they're looking at typically 30% up in some areas, and up to 46% in one :shock:

Daventry tariffs below - the card is at top of the page, while the sample fares are near the bottom:

https://www.daventrydc.gov.uk/business/ ... licensing/
Author:  StuartW [ Mon Sep 26, 2022 3:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
Taxi fare hike raising prices of some journeys by almost half in West Northants approved

https://www.northantslive.news/news/nor ... es-7627458

The decision is now open to public consultation

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has approved plans to raise hackney cab fares across the area. The cost of an average five mile Hackney cab journey in some areas of West Northamptonshire could increase by almost 50 per cent under the plans.

WNC had been considering an alignment of fares for the former Daventry, Northampton and South Northamptonshire areas as part of a review of taxi policies. Under the current system, Hackney cabs still follow the fares set out by the now defunct district councils in Daventry and South Northamptonshire and Northampton Borough Council.

At a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, September 13, top councillors voted to support the plans for what the council is calling a "cost of living alignment". Cabinet members said the fare rise also "accounted for rising fuel and energy costs".

WNC had received calls from Hackney Driver Associations across West Northants to increase the maximum they can charge customers. The body is also bound by law to introduce a single fare across the area after it was unified in April 2021.

Under proposals from the Taxi and General Licensing Committee, a new unified minimum of £2.40 would apply across West Northants. The cost of a five mile journey would be increased to a maximum of £14.40.

The proposals mark an 18% increase in the cost of a five mile journey in Northampton, and a 24% increase in Daventry. The cost of a similar journey in South Northants would also skyrocket by a huge 46%, with an average of almost 30% across West Northants as a whole.

As part of the a pre-consultation on the proposed alignment, the WNC Licensing Department wrote to all Hackney licence holders to canvas their views regarding a potential fare increase. 34 per cent of drivers in Daventry and Northampton responded and called for a fare increase citing the rise in fuel costs.

Cllr David Smith, Cabinet Member for community safety and engagement, and regulatory services, said: “The taxi industry was hit hard during lockdown and many drivers were forced to leave the trade. Some of the tariffs were also set many years ago and if they were not updated now, it would have been very challenging for existing drivers to continue.”

The council have repeated the assurance that the tariff sets the maximum that licensed taxis can charge. Each driver can determine if they would like to charge less.

Residents of West Northants now have until Thursday, October 6, to give their views on the plans. A public notice was issued on Thursday, September 22, which asks people to have their say on the new proposed table of fares. This can be filled out here: https://westnorthants.citizenspace.com/ ... s-increase.

Following the 14 day notice period, if no objections have been received, the proposed tariff will come into effect immediately. Should there be objections, WNC will consider and decide if changes are required.

Following this, a date for when the new fares come into operation can then be set and will come into effect no later than two months after the notice period has ended.
Author:  StuartW [ Mon Sep 26, 2022 3:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
Quote:
Cllr David Smith, Cabinet Member for community safety and engagement, and regulatory services, said: “The taxi industry was hit hard during lockdown and many drivers were forced to leave the trade. Some of the tariffs were also set many years ago and if they were not updated now, it would have been very challenging for existing drivers to continue.”

All these pubs etc saying they'd have gone out of business because of the gas and electricity hikes etc. They should have taken advice from this councillor - sounds like he's saying that all a business has to do is raise its prices and all's well :roll:
Author:  StuartW [ Mon Sep 26, 2022 3:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
This is the extent of the figures on the council's notice page, which doesn't really convey the kind of information contained in the article above :-o

In fact even the limited information provided doesn't make any real sense :-s

West Northamptonshire Council wrote:
Summary of proposed changes:

The average fare for Northampton and Daventry will have an increase in the day tariff from 20p to 24p with a minimum charge of £2.40 based on a measurement of distance and time (otherwise known as per unit)

Northampton and Daventry areas will also have an increase for nights, Sundays and Bank Holidays from 20p to 30p with a minimum charge of £3.60 based on a measurement of distance and time (otherwise known as per unit)
Author:  Sussex [ Mon Sep 26, 2022 7:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
The thing is even if one area didn't have an increase, when you unify various different councils you are always going to have large increases somewhere.

This is a one-off, not helped by some zones not having an increase for 14 years. [-(
Author:  StuartW [ Tue Sep 27, 2022 12:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
Came across the official council press release, which was partly rehashed for the press article posted yesterday.

Couldn't be bothered reading it properly, but noticed this very important nugget which the press report didn't think fit to mention :-o

Northants Live wrote:
The cost of a similar journey in South Northants would also skyrocket by a huge 46%, with an average of almost 30% across West Northants as a whole.

West Northamptonshire Council wrote:
There are currently no Hackney carriage licence holders in the South Northants area.

I mean... ](*,)

Anyway, this is maybe an extreme version demonstrating the different approaches of the press and local authorities. The press sensationalise an outlier figure for HC tariffs in an area that doesn't actually have any HCs :-s

The council, meanwhile, largely obscures the fact that there are any increases at all :-o

Anyway, it's all very confusing, and yet another potential very deep rabbit hole. Even the names of the various areas are confusing - West Northamptonshire, South Northamptonshire blah, blah, and of course now they're all under West Northamptonshire #-o

https://www.westnorthants.gov.uk/news/c ... iage-fares
Author:  StuartW [ Tue Sep 27, 2022 1:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
Sussex wrote:
Maybe that 50% rise will help to cover the 100% rise in fuel costs since 2008.

But maybe the non-existent HCs explain why tariffs haven't risen since 2008 :-o

Or maybe the lack of a rise in 14 years explains why there aren't any HCs :idea:
Author:  Sussex [ Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
StuartW wrote:
Sussex wrote:
Maybe that 50% rise will help to cover the 100% rise in fuel costs since 2008.

But maybe the non-existent HCs explain why tariffs haven't risen since 2008 :-o

Or maybe the lack of a rise in 14 years explains why there aren't any HCs :idea:

Most certainly both.
Author:  StuartW [ Wed Sep 28, 2022 11:12 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
It's certainly a bit of a Catch 22 situation, or chicken and egg, or whatever.

There's maybe no HCs because of the low fares, but the low fares are preventing there being any HCs :-o

Of course, the council amalgamations have forced an increase, so maybe it'll be more viable for HCs in future. But I'd guess it's mostly small town/village/rural stuff, so maybe not a lot of point in plating for public hire anyway :?
Author:  edders23 [ Wed Sep 28, 2022 2:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
It seems somewhat strange that there are no HC's in the south because although it has fewer big towns; the south of the county includes Towcester and Brackley which are not tiny.

This is the problem when you try and amalgamate the councils together you will get widely differing fare scales BUT I personally think that from the trades point of view fare scales covering a wider area might be more regularly updated so could prove more beneficial
Author:  StuartW [ Wed Sep 28, 2022 5:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Some West Northants drivers to get first rise since 2008
edders23 wrote:
It seems somewhat strange that there are no HC's in the south because although it has fewer big towns; the south of the county includes Towcester and Brackley which are not tiny.

Does seem odd - apparently their populations are 10,000 and 14,000 respectively, which you'd think would support an HC fleet, but maybe very little rank work.

But looking back using the search function, there's lots of stuff about South Northants cars working cross-border, particularly in Milton Keynes, and whether HCs or PHVs. Lots of stuff about related plying for hire and touting as well.

Mr Casey mentioned it a few times, and said this in one of his columns:

In 2014, Wayne Casey wrote:
Milton Keynes was one, very obvious example. Those of you who have photographic memories will remember the now former leader of Milton Keynes council (the strange looking chap with a beard) tell the transport select committee he would never allow Milton Keynes to regulate taxi numbers. What he didn’t tell, for whatever reason, was the cost to become a private hire or hackney driver in his borough. Bearing in mind the extortion, there can be little wonder many private hire drivers simply chose to license themselves as hackney carriages in neighbouring South Northants.

South Northants seem to have developed a knowledge test and more stringent criteria during 2011, so it will be interesting to find out in the future if the numbers of applications have been reduced as a result.

So whether they tightened things up and reduced HC numbers and thus cross-border working, who knows?

But that still doesn't explain why there are zero HCs now working in the area, apart from the tariff thing :?

The latest council policy paper from 2019 also had quite a comprehensive WAV spec, but I couldn't work out if they were mandatory. But if they had introduced a mandatory WAV policy in the latter years then that would explain a lot as well.

Anyway, that's all largely academic now with the amalgamation and the new tariff structure.
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