Taxi Driver Online

Our council have missed the 2 months deadline for considering objections to the latest tarrif increase. Does this mean that the process should start again? I objected because the proposed increase was not enough.

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Grandad,

Yes.

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IDFIMH

Thank you. I can´t wait for Monday when I get back from Spain.

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Grandad,

I have copied the email that I have sent to various people in our local council. Is this correct or should I have added anything else?

Dear xxxx,

I am writing to you with reference to your letter dated 12 April 2012.

Please treat this as a formal complaint into the proposed increase in the tariff.

This letter refers to the changing of the taxi meter tariff. I have copied below an extract from the local goverment miscellanious provisions act of 1976. The relevent section is paragraph 65 sub paragraph 4.

This clearly states that to implement the tariff change would require the council to set a new date not more than 2 months from the original date that the tariff was due to be implemented. This date was 06 February 2012 as printed in the public notice printed in the Melton Times on 19 January 2012. From this it is clear that the new tariff had to be implemented by 06 April 2012.

65 Fixing of fares for hackney carriages (1) A district council may fix the rates or

fares within the district as well for a time as distance, and all other charges in

connection with the hire of a vehicle or with the arrangements for the hire of a

vehicle, to be paid in respect of the hire of hackney carriages by means of a table

(hereafter in this section referred to as a "table of fares") made or varied in accordance

with the provisions of this section.

(2)

(a) When a district council make or vary a table of fares they shall publish

in at least one local newspaper circulating in the district a notice setting

out the table of fares or the variation thereof and specifying the period,

which shall not be less than fourteen days from the date of the first

publication of the notice, within which and the manner in which

objections to the table of fares or variation can be made.

(b) A copy of the notice referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection

shall for the period of fourteen days from the date of the first

publication thereof be deposited at the offices of the council which

published the notice, and shall at all reasonable hours be open to public

inspection without payment.

(3) If no objection to a table of fares or variation is duly made within the period

specified in the notice referred to in subsection (2) of this section, or if all objections

so made are withdrawn, the table of fares or variations shall come into operation on

the date of the expiration of the period specified in the notice or the date of

withdrawal of the objection or, if more than one, of the last objection, whichever date

is the later.

(4) If objection is duly made as aforesaid and is not withdrawn, the district council

shall set a further date, not later than two months after the first specified date, on

which the table of fares shall come into force with or without modifications as

decided by them after consideration of the objections.

With this in mind could you please cancel the proposed change of the meters due for 19 April 2012 and begin the consultation process into the tariff again.

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Grandad,

Pretty clear and to the point.

Are you saying that the proposed tariff change is still going ahead?

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IDFIMH

I haven't had a reply yet but It would seem that it is going ahead. I had a call from the head of the enforcement team this morning and I told him about the paragraph in the act and he didn't seem to think that it was a problem. I sugested to him that if the council went ahead with the meter change that they may be acting illegally and his reply was that it was not illegal just not in compliance with the act. I said that it amounted to the same thing but he thought otherwise.

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Grandad,

You really couldn't make it up.

Send an e-mail to the council's Chief Executive.

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IDFIMH

forget emails, send it by registered (to be signed for) post, dont hand it in yourself, you wont get proof of delivery,and the lying gits may deny having had it

send it to the top man (i.e. the organ grinder, not the monkey)

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

I sent the email to the the Chief Executive, the licensing officer, the head of regulatory servicers, the head of enforcement and the enforcement officer.

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Grandad,

There isn't enough time for snail mail. The current system for post at the council means that a letter received on one day does not get to the relevent department until the next day. If I send it today it wont reach anyone until Thursday morning, which is when the meters are due to be changed.

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Grandad,

I have had a reply from the council. They are re-advertising the same tariff increase again this week. They are not going to re-start from scratch.

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Grandad,

From a legal point of view the re-advertisement is starting from scratch.

As long as you object again, then a committee must consider your objections alongside any others.

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IDFIMH

Our council have stated that any objections will be looked at by someone from the department and not the committee. They have been granted delegated powers by the committee. My last objection was actually reviewed by the same person that carried out the consultation. Some of my objections were about the procedure that was used during the consultation, well he wasn't going to uphold any of them was he?

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Grandad,

So your council are saying the department that devised the tariff change will be the judge and jury over it's implementation?

I would contact the Chair and Licensing and ask him/her exactly what the f***ing hell his/her committee are there for.

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IDFIMH

We have a drivers meeting with the council next week.
There are a lot of issues to raise. One of them being that Iworked out the extra costs that have been incured since the last increase, mentioning the rise in fuel costs and insurance. I worked it out that to get us back to where we were in 2008, the time of the last increase would take 6500 jobs per year at 28 pence per job. This was dismissed because it was factually incorrect. The head of the department says that the cost of unleaded petrol has only increase by 19% from April 2008. Now that is what you call being factually incorrect. I will need to point out to him that the vast majority of taxis do not run on unleaded fuel in the first place and that in April 2008 diesel was 10 pence per litre cheaper than petrol.

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Grandad,