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Sat 3 Jan 2004

Leaving cabbies alone is only fare

Kenny MacAskill


EDINBURGH is well-served by its taxi trade. There are problems in the early hours of the morning, especially at weekends, and of course Hogmanay, when it can be difficult to obtain one. However, you cannot provide a service based solely on the needs at one small part of the day or week. It needs to be balanced out to ensure an adequate supply as often as possible and especially at peak times.

There are frequently moans about the cost of cabs and the quality of the driving. However, the cost is actually set by the city council and the drivers are, in the main, friendly and considerate, both on and off road.

This is because there is a well-regulated and monitored system for taxis in the city. The numbers of cabs, the ownership of them and the drivers in them, never mind the cost of hiring them, are set by the council. It decides what is in the public interest, not just that of the trade.

The Cab Office and the police ensure the vehicles are adequately maintained and fit for their purpose as well as for the road. If they are unsafe, or simply unclean, they can be put off the road.

Similarly, they ensure the owners and drivers are checked and monitored. If a cab driver commits a criminal offence, then more than the courts will hold them to account. It is both democratically and legally accountable. Most importantly, it has worked well for drivers and passengers alike.

It is, therefore, a cause for alarm that the Office of Fair Trading is considering de-regulating the trade in respect of numbers. This would remove the right to limit the number of taxi licences granted. There is an argument this would ensure a plentiful supply for the consumer. However, when you consider the reality, it becomes clear that it would be disastrous for the trade and public alike.

De-regulation of the buses proved to be a disaster. It resulted in plenty of buses at peak times on the profitable routes and virtually none at off-peak times and on less popular routes. The same would happen with the taxi trade.

THERE is a precedent for these apocalyptic warnings, as it was tried in Dublin with catastrophic consequences. To address a perceived lack of numbers, the trade was de-regulated. However, far from improving the service it made it worse.

There are lessons to be learned from both bus de-regulation in Scotland and taxi de-regulation in Dublin. They confirm why this proposal is both flawed and wrong.

The initial result of de-regulation would be a huge influx of new drivers and operators into the industry. In Dublin numbers rocketed from 2722 to 10,200.That would put many of the current drivers off the road and even into bankruptcy. Taxis don’t come cheap.

They are after all quality vehicles made for safety, comfort and endurance. The investment made in them - and indeed the loans taken out for them - would see many unable to recoup the sums put in or maintain the borrowings incurred.

These are the current drivers who have, in the main, served us well over the years. The investment they have made in the quality of their vehicles has been made at our demand through the current regulated system. They have provided the service we demanded at their cost.

However, the effect on the public would be as detrimental as on the existing trade. Far from increasing taxi availability, it would decline as the trade becomes essentially a part-time job. This results in a concentration on profitable times such as Friday and Saturday nights leaving customers at off-peak times in a far worse position than before.

The huge influx would mean a reduction in quality of service. In Dublin, the thousands of new taxi drivers were often found to lack the necessary geographical knowledge and were also prone to over-charging customers. This rarely happens at present and if it does is quickly addressed.

Moreover, it impacts significantly on customer safety. The quality of the vehicle fleet goes down as vehicles are either not replaced or go without proper servicing. More drivers do longer hours either in the vehicle or after another job. This affects the quality of the driving. Tired and overworked drivers are a danger to themselves, never mind their passengers and other road users.

Furthermore, some of the new intake are not the sort of you want. In Dublin it led to a marked increase in rapes and sexual assaults. In Edinburgh at present these problems are thankfully rare.

FINALLY a loosening of regulations will make it easier for money launderers and drug traffickers to enter the industry. A de-regulated system offers a golden opportunity for organised crime.

With ready cash and ample muscle, they can move into the traffic jungle. Honest hard-working folk are replaced by rogues. That is thankfully something we have avoided in the taxi trade in this city. However de-regulation could see us head the way of the private hire trade in parts of the west of Scotland.

Why, then, are the OFT even considering it? Well it is because of a perceived problem in many large metropolitan areas in England. The investigation was founded on complaints about a lack of availability at peak times. Yet the peak times referred to there were in the early evening when we are well served.

Moreover, many who have hailed a cab south of the Border will be aware of the problems in finding one willing to take you where you want to go. That does not happen here unless it is a highly unusual request. There the system of regulation is different and often lacking. Here it is well regulated.

Our trade is legislated for by our parliament and monitored and run by our councils in conjunction with the police. It and the trade are serving us well and have done so for many years. So, as the saying goes, if it isn’t broke don’t fix it.

• Kenny MacAskill is SNP transport spokesman and SNP list MSP for the Lothians


This article:

http://www.edinburghnews.com/opinion.cfm?id=8752004

Another ill-informed plank to add to the list of scare-mongers.

At least he has an excuse, he is a politician.

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IDFIMH

Funny how everyone else, particularly those standing in the way of Sussex Man getting a H/C plate, is ill-informed and worthy of the Sussex Man achnoledgement of being a plank.

Maybe, and this is only a suggestion mind you, it is Sussex Man who is the plank.

B. Lucky

You could well be right, but I would be interested in reading anyone else's points, on what the SNP plank has said.

Because it's the same old crap, that has been spread around many times.

Please someone back the SNP plank, in his views, cos it will save me time pointing out the dozens of stupid ill-informed points, that only the scare-mongers repeat.

_________________
IDFIMH

No Sussex Man its the same old crap that everyone else can see happening to the trade exept from people like you who wrongly believe EVERYONE is telling them lies.

The trade is in a mess, and conspirancy theorists like you are the ones that are scaremongering the most.

Listen to what people are saying and try to hear everything, instead of what you want to hear.

B. Lucky

The points in the article were addressed in another thread long before the OFT reported, and just because an MSP is repeating the same points made by the Scottish Taxi Federation in response to the OFT consultation doesn't change the substance of the issues raised.

In another article Mr McAskill was predicting 6,000 taxis in Edinburgh, as compared to the current 1,260.

CABforce, who know a bit more about the Edinburgh trade than Mr McAskill, predicted less than 2,000. But even this is likely to be an exaggeration, and any increase is likely to be just journeymen running their own vehicle or a shift from PH to taxi, as no doubt happens at present (but as this will involve driving one of the current taxi fleet this will no doubt be welcomed by current taxi owners!).

Dusty

So are you expecting a situation in the UK, that Dublin had i.e. no standards of vehicles or drivers, in other words deregulation?

Are you saying that the PH trade is rife with drug running?

Just two to start with, cos if you do agree with that, then you are joining the scare-monger fraternity, but if you don't, your previous post is rubbish.

_________________
IDFIMH

"Furthermore, some of the new intake are not the sort you want. In Dublin it led to a marked increase in rapes and sexual assaults. In Edinburgh at present these problems are thankfully rare. "

Does anyone else find that kind of language/thought offensive, you are an okay person if you drive for someone else but will turn into a criminal/sex monster because you may want your own cab, why would removing restrictions on numbers lead to the authorities allowing someone who is not deemed a fit and proper person being able to obtain a licence in the first place?
Quite frankly I find these constant refrences to this sort of rubbish damaging to the whole industry, it's time to have an adult debate and stop this hammy paranoid rubbish.

Quite right Mr Guest - like many other arguments, they have nothing to do with restricted numbers, they depend on other aspects of regulation.

I don't think unrestricted areas in the UK demonstrate any more criminality than restricted areas.

If the crooks want to enter the taxi sector then what's to stop them at present and how would this differ with de-restriction?

The Dublin example is a red herring - it became more like the London minicab and/or tout trade.

The answer to the London minicab problem was obvious, and is currently underway, and no one suggested restricting numbers was the answer. Indeed, such an argument would clearly be preposterous, and if restricting numbers wouldn't address criminality then doing the opposite shouldn't cause it either!!!

The problems with sections of the PH market in Scotland are also being addressed by moves to license despatch offices, as far as I know.

Likewise, the Dublin problem was recognised by the announcement of an Office of National Taxi Regulator, who will set standards for cars and drivers etc.

This was clearly recognised in the OFT's report, when the need for stringently enforced standards was emphasised.

Obviously the Dublin scenario brings words such as 'horse', 'stable door', 'lock' and 'bolted' to mind, but there's no word of reintroducing numerical restrictions, for obvious reasons.

Dusty