Taxi Driver Online

Cardiff taxi king (27/7/2005)

Our special correspondent takes an in-depth look at the process that brought Cardiff's taxi king down.

Extracts from the article 'The man who would be king!' are included below, but the full text of the article can be downloaded from:

http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/cardiffking.doc (57kb)

This story tells how one man single handedly wiped out 9.6 million pounds in plate values because of personal greed.

Cardiff Hackney Carriage proprietor Mr. Carl Cummings has an interest in over 12% of the 480 hackney carriage vehicles licensed by the local authority. He therefore has a Million reasons wrapped up in grey market plate values as to why Cardiff county council should retain its policy of restricting hackney carriage numbers. Unfortunately for Mr. Cummings, on 7th October 2003 Cardiff council decided to lift their restriction on numbers and change to a policy of quality control. The Council decision didn't sit well with Mr Cummings so he decided to roll out the men in grey wigs and challenge the council head on in a court of law.

After three appeals and thousands of pounds in court costs Mr Cummings vain attempts to scupper Cardiff Council were finally laid to rest in the Court of appeal on 11th July 2005. No one was surprised when the court of appeal hammered the final nail in the coffin of Carl Cummings ill-conceived applications for judicial review. If it weren't for the time gained through delaying tactics Mr Cummings might well have jumped ship after failing to clear the first hurdle of the appeals in October 2004. He did however gain two years grace, which no doubt gave him time to contemplate his future and perhaps concentrate his mind on what life might be like under de-restriction.

The background to this case and eventual decision by Cardiff council to delimit numbers is quite fascinating but if it weren't for Mr Cummings own greed Cardiff's policy of restriction would still be in place today.

The financial cost of litigation to Mr Cummings has no doubt been high but when faced with the prospect of losing an artificial premium of 1.2 Million pounds those costs fade into insignificance. When you consider the wider implications it means that 9.6 Million pounds of artificial plate values in Cardiff were wiped out simply because of the greed of one man, "all for the sake of a ballot".

At this moment in time Cardiff plates are worthless, the only hope existing plate owners have of retaining the status quo is if Cardiff council rescind their policy decision of October 7th 2003 and implement their original policy decision of 14th January 2003. That decision may not be long in coming, I understand a report is already being prepared for the August 2005 committee meeting so by the time this article is published the committee's decision may already be known.

This article raises many questions but not least the greed that can manifest itself by those who find themselves in dominant positions simply because of a licensing authority decision to limit hackney carriage numbers. In this case the wider impact of individual greed has been devastating on those owners who had an artificial expectation of at least securing a future profit from the scarcity value of their license plate. We have seen yet another Taxi Proprietor fall foul of current Taxi law but somehow I doubt he will be the last.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

I can't believe they are going to go through judicial reviews, high court hearings, appeal courts hearings, yet go back from whence they came.

But hey, this is the taxi/PH trade.

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IDFIMH

I suppose that if there's millions at stake then those with a vested interest will try every possibility, irrespective of how narrow the chances of victory might be.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

It really is fascinating how one man could do all that just because he wanted six extra plates lol. It really is a remarkable story when you think about it but then again it always was going to be remarkable considering there was only ever going to be one outcome.

I just wonder if Cardiff will now carry out their policy of quality control? Perhaps there is still a twist in the tail.

Regards

JD

Can you?

I hear Sefton and Knowsley are contemplating a new policy of brand new wavs only. How will that effect you? Nice bit of Quality control for you to contemplate? lol

JD

An interesting paragraph in the full article:

To confuse matters further, while all this litigation was taking place, In January 2005 Councillor Islam presented a petition to the full Council on behalf of the Cardiff Taxi Drivers Association asking for delimitation of hackney carriage numbers. The petition urged the County Council to issue unlimited numbers of Hackney Carriage plates in order to avoid the city's taxi drivers being charged excessive amounts of rent, by the individual fleet owners.

Interesting because I don't know of any other cities that have an organisation that seems to be representing the jockies per se (presumably) rather than the trade as a whole, or the owners in particular, which seems more the normal scenario.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

But true to type the councillor is asking the County Council.

Anyone out there know of a County Council that controls the taxi/PH trade?

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IDFIMH

ok, this numpty has obviously ruined the Cardiff trade, but tell me, where would all these extra HC go? where would they park? how much extra business will thier be for them? you guys still dont get it, its the average plate holder who will be worse off when all the new entrants flock to become HC drivers.

Look, say at the moment Cardiff has 500 cabs and 1000 drivers. Those drivers each work 60 hours a week each. The worse case senario for those that support quotas is that each driver takes a new plate.

So you will still have 1000 drivers working 60 hours a week, the only difference is that they will be driving their own vehicles. Now the doom and scare mongers will say that all 1000 will work during the day, thus creating grid-lock.

However those of us with brains will know that drivers aren't all going to change their working patterns, and drivers have got to be pretty thick to want to sit around scratching their bums during the day, when there is bundles of work going begging during the night.

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IDFIMH

sorry sussex, i do have a brain, but i remain to be convinced that the scenario will turn out as you predict.

i believe that you will have more entrants looking for work that is simply not thier, i tried to cruise the streets looking for flaggers, did i find any? nope, had to go back to the station and "cherry pick".

The cars were ranked twenty to thirty deep, a job appearing every 30 mins if you were lucky.

I agree that some drivers are fleeced by the owners, this will still happen albeit the rents going down.

In Swindon the guy goes on about the hail and ride market, do you really believe it exists? how long will the guys get before they are told to move on? they will all converge on the station and the bus station.

What about drivers who do not want a radio?

Dereg only benefits the Saturday night crowd, even PH struggle to cover the work some evenings. Yes I know I have a vested interest, paid a lot of money for a plate, but in the end dereg does not benefit the average taxi driver, just makes life harder.

So what about the Cardiff drivers who wanted derestriction - are they 'the trade' or the 'average taxi driver'?

Presumably you are just ignoring them, as per usual.

At the end of the day it all comes down to choice and a level playing field - if some drivers feel the need to have a radio and/or go PH then at the end of the day its their choice and also the choice of the remaining street cars.

The problem with your preference is that you effectively want choose what others do, and they can't choose themselves.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Well where are they going to come from?

Are you, or anyone else, suggesting there is a secret supply of folks out there with £20/30,000 saved to buy a WAV?

I doubt there is. The new plate holders will be from the existing pool of drivers, and what is so bad with them having their own cars?

And if it doesn't pay, well then the local trade has nothing to fear. Because word will soon spread.

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IDFIMH

i guess they were the ones being fleeced by the man would be king!

and i tell you what, you guys ARE convincing me to sell my plate to some poor serf, meanwhile I wait a few years and then come back in a few years when the great taxi jumble sale is over!!!