OK, so rates for school runs have ballooned, but this makes it sound like there's some dodgy stuff going on, or at least that's the subtext. But just sounds like the way things have always worked, but at higher rates
(It doesn't specifically say here, but I'm sure the chap quoted used to run some sort of despatch operation in the town.)
Herefordshire taxis 'charging double' for council contracts
https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/2502 ... contracts/
Taxis drivers in Herefordshire are making so much money taking children to and from school that they don’t need to bother taking other fares, particularly at night.
This is the view of John Jones, for many years the chairman of Hereford Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Association, responding to the news that Herefordshire Council spent nearly £6 million on such contracts in the last financial year.
“It used to be that if you took on these regular contracts, they would be at below meter rate,” he said – but now such contracts let by the council are often at double the equivalent rate on the meter.
He put the change down to supply and demand, with the county’s onerous requirements on drivers and their vehicles, coupled with lingering effects of Covid 19, leaving not enough taxis to go round – and not all taxis and private hire operators are registered with the council.
“I know of one car that makes a thousand pounds a week going to and from Leominster, when the rate should be less than half that,” Mr Jones said. “A lot of those drivers then take the rest of the day off, and won’t come out at night.”
Some registered operators have taken on extra cars for council contract work, while other “farm out” such contracts to other drivers while taking a cut first, he said, adding that driver positions are being advertised online at £800 a week, “which you won’t earn from regular taxi work”.
“So people Herefordshire are losing out twice over – they are paying over the odds and they can’t get a taxi when they need one,” Mr Jones said.
A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said: “An external review of our home to school transport services is currently under way which will explore commissioning and contracting arrangements.
“The outcomes of this will help to inform the development of any future plans.”
Figures from the council showed that in the financial year to last April, it spent over £5.8 million on taxis for a total of 496 pupils, of whom over half had special educational needs and disabilities.
