Taxi Driver Online

Our council met on September 4th to review the fees for next year to be implemented on April 1st 2014.
Following on from this years 25% across the board increase it is proposed that all fees are again to increase by another 25%. of course this 25% is on the fees as they are now not what they were before last years rise so in effect our fees will have risen by 55% since 31 March 2013. At this moment, the council admit that they do not know what the true costs are.

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Grandad,

FoI them and demand that they find out. the fees they charge can only cover the costs. See the Westminster case in the legal section.

They are proposing to carry out a costs study over the next 3 months to establish the true figures.
I went through the whole FOI saga this year and then the complaints procedure and finally I went to the ombudsman. Failed at every stage. The ombudsman would not even look into the situation.

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Grandad,

have you ever checked what your neighbouring LA's charge?

get a letter in the local press explaining why fares are going up

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

What the neighbours pay is totally irrelevant. Fees are based on costs within the borough.

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Grandad,

SKDC Base what they charge on a comparison with half a dozen neighbouring districts funnily enough they all seem to go up about 2 to 3 times inflation annually !!!! I would be very surprised if your council aren't trying to play catch up

I heard a rumour that quite a lot of councils are doing this now in the belief that they can hide high charges if they are all about the same I.E. if every council in the country is making a surplus any complaints to the ombudsman will fail because he will compare the charges to neighbouring councils and conclude that they are not excessive

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Prima facie* yes, but its a case you can use to highlight your costs, i.e. "2 miles away they charge half what we pay...hows that work"

or just plate where its cheaper and cross border it...lol

an LA nearer to me than my own (city+DC offices) is half the price I pay



*On the first appearance

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

Wrong?

Wrong with a question mark. That is confusing me now.

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Grandad,

Wrong?[/quote]
Wrong with a question mark. That is confusing me now.[/quote][/quote]


By virtue of the Local Government Act 1999 the authority is required to carry out such comparison.

Wrong and right.

Wrong as MCF says about 'best value' reviews, but right in respect of what service you receive.

Say your local trade agreed to fund a new enforcement officer out of license fees, then it wouldn't matter what next door's council do.

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IDFIMH

although a council has a statutory power to levy a fee this does not give it an absolutely free hand in relation to the scale of the fee that is levied.the impact of any increase upon the livelihood of those affected has to be taken into account,as does the scale of the increase.CONSULTATION must take place with interested parties,whether this is a statutory requirement or not, and results of that consultation must be considered by the council before the decision is made.it is important that any consultation is done fairly and the results considered properly by the council.ANY suggestion that the cosultation is a sham would be grounds for an application for leave to seek a judicial review of the final decision.
the judge in kelly v liverpool said although s53 contains no requirement for consultation, a local authority would be ill-advised not to embark upon some element of consultation with those persons who would be affected by an increase in fees (eg the drivers of BOTH hackney carriages and private hire vehicles).

Wrong with a question mark. That is confusing me now.[/quote][/quote]


By virtue of the Local Government Act 1999 the authority is required to carry out such comparison.[/quote]
Is it just a straight comparison of the fees charged and what should happen if there are large variances? or is it a comparison of the work needed to produce the licenses?

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Grandad,

It's a best value comparison, if it costs more to produce a licence in melton, then that's not good value,so there case for an increase is not so good, if it's less in melton then there case is better.but you could use other examples of areas where it is cheaper, but they should also consult with the trade on any proposed increase, as in the wednesbury principles, any council would be ill advised not to consult.

This why fees should be the same across the country, how can LA1 charge twice what LA2 charges for the same work?

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