Taxi Driver Online

This is quite funny in a way, but just goes to show how councils work at times, and how people may not be aware of what's going on.

But looks like the village where the driver lives is in the Tewkesbury council area rather than Cheltenham - not that the cross-border angle has anything to do with it, as far as I can see - he might well have lived in Cheltenham and still been unaware of the council's change of policy (although it's not clear where he was plated private hire - that might have been under Tewkesbury, and to that extent he may have become aware of the change to Cheltenham HC WAVs policy if he'd been plated private by Cheltenham...)

Funny thing, though, it's not clear precisely what all the hoohah below is about, and why councillors needed to be involved. There's maybe a clue at the end, but it doesn't make sense to me


Bishop's Cleeve private hire driver gets Cheltenham Hackney carriage licence

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/n ... er-9205211

Simon Bailey moved over to private hire in 2020 as he believed he couldn't get a newer vehicle unless it was wheelchair accessible

A Bishop’s Cleeve private hire driver has been granted a Hackney carriage licence to work in Cheltenham. Cabbie Simon Bailey moved over to private hire several years ago as he understood that at the time he could not add a newer vehicle if it was not wheelchair accessible.

He told Cheltenham Borough Council that he needed to change his vehicle in December 2020 but it was not proving cost effective to buy a suitable Hackney vehicle to then change it again for a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) within seven or eight months. “I was unaware until very recently that WAVs had been abandoned for the Cheltenham Hackney fleet," he said.

“Living in Bishop's Cleeve, now having a private hire plate and not partaking in the Echo, the local paper, and not going to Hackney ranks for interaction with other drivers, I was unaware of the change in the years following Covid.

"However, as I was coming out of the dog walking Grange Field in Bishop's Cleeve, I noticed a silver estate car with a Cheltenham Hackney carriage plate on the back, this led me to make further enquiries and discover that WAV's had been postponed, this was only towards end of November 2023.

“As I haven't held a Hackney car plate since Covid, I don't get to talk to other drivers on the rank, so I wasn't aware.” He told the council that as a private hire driver he missed out severely as most of the businesses that he dealt with went to zoom calls and Microsoft Teams meetings online rather than business travel.

“It took over two years for that to return and in the interim I could have done with a Hackney plate. I find that losing my Hackney plate has cost me dearly, going back to a Hackney plate would generate more income and give me greater working flexibility, something I’ve missed since the start of Covid in 2020.

“As a private hire driver, I've been unable to access ranks or hackney lanes in and around Cheltenham and it also works for London lanes. This has placed me at a disadvantage as other drivers from the Tewkesbury and Cotswold area have been able to use Hackney vehicles that can get through the road network quicker than I can, customers are therefore more likely to want to use their services.

“However, due to the financial climate I will still want to work in a more settled way.” Licensing team leader Jason Kirkwood told the council meeting on April 3 he is asking for his circumstances to be “effectively reset to where they were prior to the change in policy”.

He said Mr Bailey wanted a Hackney carriage licence and would give up his private hire plate. Mr Bailey told the licensing sub-committee on April 3 because he did a mixture of rank work, airport trips and executive work “the prospect of driving a van” was not suitable for his customers.

“I was forced into the private hire route, which I’m still in.” Councillors were supportive of his application and the committee decided to delegate to officers to grant the licence.

They will treat it as a late renewal with a change of vehicle as if it was a replacement application.

So what's the relevance of the final paragraph if it's a plate? I could see the relevance if it was a badge, because a fresh application might involve a knowledge test, or driving assessment, or whatever, but I'm not sure what the significance of treating it as a late renewal is with regard to a plate (unless it's some kind of quota aspect, but not sure what that could be either).

But certainly very generous of councillors to treat a gap of four years or so as a 'late renewal'

Maybe he merely wants to change his PH to a HC, and it's too old to be licensed as an initial application.

But whatever it was it's refreshing to see a council use common sense.

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IDFIMH