Taxi Driver Online

What about the morrisons-Safeway bid

wasnt that big?

asda sainsburys and tesco thought so.

Wharfie

Yes Wharfy, but I can't really remember if the OFT's announcement of the referral to the competition was actually reported on the TV. Maybe you can.

I can certainly recall the announcement of the takeover bid being on TV.

I can recall the results of the Competition Commission's investigation being on TV, that wasn't too long ago.

But the OFT referall to the OFT, I can't remember if it was on the TV, but I think it was generally expected anyway, so maybe didn't make the TV news?

Dusty

As someone living in Morrison Heartland I can tell you for certain that it was on T.V.

alas age maybe what I cannot recall is whether it was National T.V.

wHARFIE

it was on tv in scotland anyway

Ok then, suppose we delete the words 'within the'.

Then you may still be correct, since it was Monday morning when you posted!

Dusty

Yup. And perhaps we should replace the words "next week" with "one week"

_________________
There is Significant Unmet Demand for my Opinion.

I got a good feeling about this.

Defiantly this week or next, without a doubt.

so the lads were speculating about the timing,
"they definitly said the end of summer" thats next year?
its winter now and the oft will be skiing
So lets get down and study, What have we to fear?

Well said tom with body shaking in a flutter,
maybe they will abolish limit by numbers.
nah said Andrew the badge the colour of butter,
if they do that we will be selling tupperware tumblers,

Well said Dave perhaps they will open up the market on makes of cabs,
But the PCO have just ruled on that and they wont budge,
Alex came up with a thought, lets make an appointment with t and g phone babs,
We can always get them down here but we know for a start that they will fudge,

Maybe, the late announcement means no change,
maybe they have found the market works so well,
Well said Alex if thats the case it will be strange.
lets wait and see, back to work,this customer needs to go to the dell.

Paddington Bill.

_________________
Come and go as you will,
but Do so with Paddington Bill

From http://www.scottaxifed.org/dereg.htm

Office of Fair Trading

As advised earlier, the OFT letter inviting the STF to submit their views on the possible removal of numerical control of taxi numbers was received on Tuesday 11 th February 2003, the day after our general meeting in Stirling. It is a great pity that this did not arrive 24 hours earlier as this would have given us the opportunity to discuss this with members and take on board their views in formulating a response.

As I hope you will appreciate given the time constraints, there was not an opportunity to seek your views therefore we had to respond on your behalf, a copy of our response is included, I trust this meets with your approval. You will note we used two reports from the NTDU Dublin with their consent, which we felt strengthened our submission.

Letter received

"The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is conducting a study of the licensed taxis market within the UK. The final report will be published this forthcoming summer. At this stage the OFT is accepting comments and submissions from interested parties.
The investigation has been undertaken to look at the impact of existing regulations on the market for licensed taxis. It will examine how well the market is working for consumers. The study will compare experiences between local authority areas where regulations differ to help assess how regulations affect the overall service to passengers.
The Office would welcome a submission from the Scottish Taxi Federation that would communicate the views of the membership in relation to this study."

STF Submission

I refer to your letter dated 7 February 2003 and thank you for giving the Scottish Taxi Federation the opportunity to comment.

Although the report to be completed by the summer of 2003 will not immediately affect the taxi industry in Scotland (taxi licensing is devolved to the Scottish Parliament) it is still a matter of great concern that removal of control of numbers in England and Wales will ultimately lead to a similar situation north of the border in Scotland.

It is clear, not from your letter but from extracts taken from your website and from radio news broadcasts interviews given around September 2002, that the main thrust of the OFT investigation is to prove that consumers' interests are not best served by regulations which permit licensing authorities to restrict the number of taxi licences issued.

In our view removal of control of taxi licences will not solve the problem of supply meeting consumers' demand but will lead to:

1. A seriously increased risk to public safety.

2. An erosion of qualitative standards.

3. Higher fares.

4. An influx into the taxi trade of operatives who have other employment and who will use taxi driving to augment earnings and who will work at peak periods only, as currently happens in the de-regulated bus industry, leading to lack of service at non-peak periods.

5. Full time operatives working longer hours to try to maintain a reasonable level of income thereby posing a threat to other roads users.

6. A serious drop in revenue to current operators resulting in the lack of resources required to maintain vehicle standards. This also poses a risk to public safety.

7. The creation of a black economy with drivers moonlighting between several jobs.

The list is not exhaustive.

Our views are borne out by experience elsewhere. Removal of control of numbers practised in America as far back as the 1930's resulted in the opposite of the beneficial impacts which had been expected from taxi de-regulation. See US Department of Transportation Report published in 1983 (referred to in page 7 of the attached MSM Review of Taxi Fares for NTDU, November 2002).

Again in the 1980's cities across America such as Seattle, Phoenix, San Diego and Atlanta began a programme of de-regulation of the taxi industry. In an article published in the Transportation Law Journal 2000, Professor Paul Dempsey states that since 1983 some 21 American cities had deregulated the taxi industry and concludes that de-regulation failed to provide the anticipated consumer pricing and service benefits and that as a consequence most communities involved in de-regulation have since re-regulated their taxi industry. Professor Roger Teal, who has conducted several studies into taxi de-regulation in the USA, reached similar conclusions.

There are many examples to be found which demonstrate that removing numerical control does not best serve the public interest with perhaps the best example being on our own doorstep in Dublin, where de-regulation minus qualitative control has been proven to be among other things detrimental to public safety. Since de-regulation there have been numerous reported cases of rapes and drug abuse in the taxi trade. This was unknown prior to de-regulation. It is also true to say that a great many former operatives have now left the taxi industry, as it is no longer viable as a full time occupation.

The attached MSM Review of Taxi Fares for NTDU and Submission to the Office of Fair Trading explain in detail why de-regulation does not best serve consumers' interests. It is the view of the members of the Scottish Taxi Trade that to ensure consumer's interests are protected and that public safety is not compromised, regulation particularly in terms of control of numbers must be retained albeit with a legislative responsibility making it binding on licensing authorities to review taxi number requirements on a regular basis. We suggest this should be carried out at intervals of 2/3 years and should be delegated to an independent arbiter whose findings would be binding on both the licensing authority and on the taxi trade.

The OFT Acknowledgement

Thank you for your letter of the 27 February 2003 and the enclosed copies of the National Taxi Drivers Union submission and Market and Strategic Management review. This will be of much interest and indeed most informative to the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT'S) UK licensed taxis study team.

In your submission you say that "It is clear, not from your letter but from extracts taken from your website and from radio news broadcasts interviews given around September 2002, that the main thrust of the OFT investigation is to prove that consumers' interests are not best served by regulations which permit licensing authorities to restrict the number of taxi licenses issued". My understanding is that you feel that this will lead to deregulation, however John Vickers, the Director General of Fair Trading, said in the press release of 21 August 2002 that "This is a large and growing market, which is highly regulated. We want to see that regulation strikes the right balance..."

The OFT's recommendations in it's final report can include :-

• enforcement action by the OFT's competition and consumer regulation divisions

• a reference of the market to the Competition Commission

• recommendations that the Government considers changes in laws and regulations and to regulators, self-regulatory and other bodies to consider changes to their rules - the Government has agreed (in its White Paper 'Productivity and Enterprise: A World Class Competition Regime') to publish a written response within 90 days

• campaigns to promote consumer education and awareness

• a clean bill of health.

The Office has no preconceived ideas about regulation and deregulation, the findings that will be
published in summer 2003 will be based on the evidence collected during the course of the study.

Britain to study Irish taxi deregulation
Sunday, August 25, 2002

By Kieron Wood

The Office of Fair Trading in Britain is to examine taxi deregulation in Ireland as part of its new study of restrictions on the number of taxi licences.

The licensed taxi services market in Britain is worth over stg£2 billion (€3.13 billion). The main focus of the OFT study -- announced last week -- will be local authority restrictions on the issue of taxi licences.

Almost half of the local authorities in England and Wales restrict the number of taxi licences in their area.

In Northern Ireland, taxi licensing is regulated by the Department of the Environment which checks the roadworthiness of vehicles and approves drivers and/or owners.

The Northern Ireland Assembly has devolved powers to legislate in the taxi-licensing field.

In the Republic, the taxi market was deregulated in November 2000. At that time, there were 3,912 licensed taxis countrywide, of which 2,700 were in Dublin. Last month, the number of taxis countrywide had risen to just over 11,000 (with about 8,500 in Dublin).

Last February, the government established a Taxi Hardship Panel to examine and report back on the extent of personal financial hardship experienced by individual licence holders because of the fall in the value of licences from around £75-80,000 to €6,300. The panel is due to report to transport minister Seamus Brennan early next month.

A spokesman for the OFT in Britain said: "To inform the wider context of our study, the OFT will compare availability and access to licensed taxis at national and international level. The OFT's taxi inquiry will assess whether or not lessons can be learned from changes made to taxi licensing regulations in other countries, including a comparison of UK licensing regulations with those in Eire and other countries."
A report on the OFT survey is due to be published next summer.

that is very interesting and information I had missed.

Wharfie

Worrying, isn't it - it seems a lot of the trade in Scotland are relying on the STF to represent them, but they seem not to have grasped that the study is as relevant to Scotland as England.

Taxi licensing may be the responsibilty of the Scottish Parliament, in England and Wales it's the responsibilty of the UK parliament, but the OFT acts as competition watchdog for the whole UK.

Of course, neither Parliament has to take any notice of what the OFT says, since ultimately major change would be a political decision, but the STF's position seems grossly misleading.

But the STF has got more pressing needs to worry aout, like getting a parking ticket overturned that was given to one of their top men while he abandoned his taxi on a rank while visiting the toilet, thus seeming to want taxi ranks used with impunity by unscrupulous drivers who are on a shopping trip, playing bingo or whatever (both of these are from personal experience).

Dusty

PS When I say personal experience, I don't mean that it was me doing these things!!

I feel Dusty, the lads in Scotland are believing that OFT can't touch them, because that's what the want.

To me a lad in Sussex being screwed by the system, is equally as bad as a lad in Scotland being screwed by it. The same applies to customers as well.

That's the way it seems to me, and hopefully the OFT will share my thoughts.

Points submitted to OFT by Scottish Taxi Federation against de-limitation

1. A seriously increased risk to public safety.

Why? London license numbers have never been limited. Does the London black trade constitute a serious risk to public safety?

2. An erosion of qualitative standards.

Ditto - some of the worst cab trades in the world have poor qualitative standards with astronomical plate values. Any standards evident have nothing to do with license quotas - take Brighton for example - good cars, but the age rule etc probably has a lot to do with this - if the LA let sheds on, there would be sheds, irrespective of license quotas.

3. Higher fares.

These are set by LAs, so there's no reason to have higher fares - perhaps the STF are talking about fares being unregulated, which no one seems to want, and I don't think will happen.

In any case, since much of the higher fares is reflected in plate values, this argument simply doesn't hold water.

4. An influx into the taxi trade of operatives who have other employment and who will use taxi driving to augment earnings and who will work at peak periods only, as currently happens in the de-regulated bus industry, leading to lack of service at non-peak periods.

Well, I've worked in two areas, one with a quota and one without, and both are choc-a-bloc with part-time drivers, and the vast majority of plateholders hire them, and indeed are always crying out for more.

Indeed, a vehement quota supporter from Edinburgh recently described weekend part-time drivers as the 'cream on the cake' in another thread.

That last bit about the 'lack of service at non-peak periods' is also quite amusing - people can't get a taxi on Tuesday mornings and there's work everywhere, yet the full timers will be sitting at home in the huff!!!

5. Full time operatives working longer hours to try to maintain a reasonable level of income thereby posing a threat to other roads users.

No need with reasonable qualitative standards in place - anyway, platheholders seem to have no qualms about making journeymen work longer hours to pay for the plate. For example, when I worked for someone who had nothing to do with the trade he expected me to work 14 hour shifts.

6. A serious drop in revenue to current operators resulting in the lack of resources required to maintain vehicle standards. This also poses a risk to public safety.

Again this is just a repitition of the stuff above, if the LA doesn't have reasonable standards in place then the quota ain't gonna help things anyway.

7. The creation of a black economy with drivers moonlighting between several jobs.

Ditto above, the objection is really to moonlighting drivers who have their own vehicle, not moonlighting drivers per se. It's a case of do as I say, not as I do.

Again, one car I drove for for a short period in a quotaed area had about half a dozen drivers, with only one full-timer - the full-timer was on some kind of benefit I think, and I doubt if any of the part-timers paid tax. When I mentioned the t-word to the owner he nearly went ballastic (!)

Of course I'm not suggesting that all plate holders are like that, but the STF's points don't show the true picture.

Dusty

Here the STF are confusing de-limitation and deregulation but whether they are doing this deliberately to confuse the issue, or simply don't know the difference, isn't clear.

For example, if you remove fare controls then because people just take the first cab or flag one down at random on the street then fares will probably go up - that's why they are controlled in the first place.

Although I argue for de-limitation, I certainly don't argue for deregulation.

Again London is the best example - there's no plate quotas, but the service is considered high quality, simply because the quality is regulated.

If London was deregulated, the current minicab and/or tout sector would replace the current black cab trade - that's effectively what happened in Dublin.

Dusty