Taxi Driver Online

Having worked for a Council for six years I can tell you safely that ring-fencing is a load of crap. There are only about a billion ways round it and the definition of what the money can be used for is kept deliberately woolly for those very reasons. You think the money collected from parking fines is spent on road improvements?

That's why about 10 years ago now, Brum taxi trade reps famously recovered £368,000 from the surplus of licensing funds that had been diverted to other uses in other departments. We involved the District Auditor & after some months the monies were refunded to the licensing budget. Also, since that time & under the FoI we are told annually what the balance in the account is & see the accounts for the licensing department in the annual report to councillors on the licensing committe. But if you are not pro-active, then you will be walked all over.

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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With something like profiteering shouldn't the person arguing for it be the one having to justify it?

OK, rewind to the top of the thread.

John and David both want a Southampton taxi plate.

John, gets one, David doesn't.

John sells the plate to David for £35k.

John profiteers to the extent of £35k.

David is shafted to the extent of £35k.

Are you a communist?

How about this?

John gets a plate and sells it to David.

David wouldn't pay the money if he didn't think it was a fair price.

John gets what he asks for the plate.

David goes off and earns money using that plate.

No one gets shafted. Instead business gets done.

This thread will be a little interesting now!!!

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
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When debating on the TDO Forum.

Well I've totally lost interest

Typical Fifer!

The thing is, Mr Saltmarket, this subject has been debated ad naseum on here, and it's clear from your response that we're miles apart and debating the topic would get us absolutely nowhere and be a complete waste of time.

Most obviously, you kick off by asking if I'm a communist, which seems to me to display a pretty distorted view of communisim.

You end by saying that "business gets done", which seems to me to display a pretty distorted view of business.

Indeed, as the article at the top of the thread suggests, the process is in essence a lottery, so if someone wins £35k on it then that hardly equates to "business".

As for the bit inbetween, you seem to think that because someone pays for something then they consider it a fair price, which I also think distorts what can happen in real life.

In the example, do you really think David thinks the price paid for the plate is fair given that John won the plate on the lottery?

That's not the way a public authority should conduct its affairs.

But since I think you said you worked for a local authority for a number of years then that perhaps tells us all we need to know

Folks on the waiting list.

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IDFIMH

Have you really lost interest ..... or is it that you can't be a*sed to debate with someone who has the logic of a brick?

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

It would appear that they don't operate a waiting list.

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Grandad,

Government watchdog slams city taxi licence draw


A GOVERNMENT watchdog says Southampton council chiefs were wrong to hold their great taxi plate lottery in secret, the Daily Echo can reveal.

The Information Commissioner’s Office questioned Southampton City Council’s claim the draw had to be held behind closed doors to comply with the Data Protection Act. Yet the council is still refusing to reveal the 20 lucky winners for another two months.

Now taxi unions bosses are calling for the draw for 20 lucrative hackney carriage licences to held again – in public.


A councillor, accompanied by licensing chiefs, picked the winners and a reserve list of 40 from raffle tickets in a tin representing all the 346 applicants.

As previously revealed, the taxi plates could be sold on for up to £35,000 on the open market, but the council can only charge £180 per licence to cover its costs.

The last draw for plates was held in public in the council chamber when 44 were handed out in 2001.

A spokesman for the Inform-ation Commissioner’s Office said: “The DPA plays a very important role in protecting our personal information and, like any organisation, Southampton City Council should think carefully before publicly releasing personal information. However, it seems that they may have been unduly cautious here. Operating a licensed taxi is essentially a public rather than a private activity.

“Presumably the identity of those who are successful in the draw will become known in the area. We understand that a list of licensed taxi drivers in an area should be publicly available from the local authority. If this is the case we see no problem with announcing the names of those who have been awarded new licence plates in a public draw. We will be contacting Southampton City Council to discuss their reasons for this decision.”

Perry McMillan, chairman of the Southampton cab section of the Unite union said: “This backs up what we’ve been saying – there was no need to hold it in secret.

“Let’s do it again in the open.”

He added: “Feelings are running very high. If we have to take strike action to draw attention to our situation that is what we will probably have to do.”

Ian Hall, chairman of the 120- member Southampton Hackney Association, which had opposed the issuing of new plates, said: “Maybe they should have done it a different way but I don’t think there is any appetite for a strike.”

The number of hackney carriages in Southampton had been limited to 263. But a survey found “significant unmet demand” and councillors agreed 20 new plates should be awarded: four this December, eight next year and a further eight in 2011.

Assistant solicitor to the council Richard Ivory said the Information Commissioner's office had not spoken to the council about its procedure and did not say the authority was wrong in law.

He said: "Even if the council was acting with “undue caution” this does not affect the reasonableness of the application process used by the council so there will not be a redraw.

"The council’s position is a reasonable interpretation of the law. The application process requires submission of personal data which simply should not be public at this stage.

"We will be advising all applicants, successful or otherwise, of their status in the next few days."

"The IC is absolutely right that “operating a licensed taxi is a public rather than a private activity”.

"That is exactly the point; the applicant’s name, issued plate no and vehicle details will be published on the public register as with all other taxis as required by law once the licence is granted.

"The applications to date have only been an “expression of interest”. No licence was granted yesterday at the ballot and will not be so until the next stage of the process in completed including the submission of vehicle details to the licensing team.

"Licences will be granted on 1st December 2009, 2010 and 2011. Until then there is no licence and the application remains personal.”

Why dont they just de- restrict and bring in quality controls instead that would be the end of it

Like in the Scottish Borders?

CC