Taxi Driver Online

28th April 2016

Andrew Gwynne Shadow Minister (Health)



Back in 1847 when Lord John Russell was Prime Minister, our taxi licensing laws were developed. We now have a problem in the north-west of England, where one local authority is handing out hackney carriage taxi licences like sweeties. The problem is that with a hackney licence a person can operate as a private hire vehicle driver anywhere in the country, so there are now taxis from that local authority operating as far afield as Bristol without appropriate checks and balances. May we have an urgent debate on how we can bring our taxi licensing regime up to date?



Chris Grayling Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons, Chair, Palace of Westminster (Joint Committee)



The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. I was not aware of the situation that he describes. I will make sure that it is drawn to the attention of the Secretary of State for Transport who I am sure, if he was also unaware of it, will want to look at the matter very seriously.

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Hmmm, where exactly were you both during the deregulation bill debates?

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Grandad,

And whilst there sorting that they could also stop Uber private hires being able to work anywhere in the country but don't hold your breath.

Another inquiry required into how much these two were involved in the debates held with regard to The Deregulation Act.
It would appear they are unaware of the mayhem caused originally by the Berwick situation,with all the publicity and relevant court cases ignorance of them is not an excuse that either of these persons can use,they are not fit for purpose.

I seen one this morning in Mansfield from Wolverhampton working for a Mansfield based Private Hire company.

Sums up exactly how high a priority taxi law change is.

I suppose a mass anti Uber movement might speed things up, but I suspect we will all be long gone by the time our laws change.

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IDFIMH

Rogue council handing out taxi licences ‘like sweeties’ - Andrew Gwynne MP


Labour MP Andrew Gwynne talks to PoliticsHome about closing a loophole in nineteenth-century taxi licensing laws which currently enables previous offenders to drive cabs unchecked.

What do you do if you’ve been refused a taxi licence by your local authority for a history of violence, or even child sexual exploitation? For thousands of would-be cab drivers, the answer has been “Rossendale.”

Thanks to a loophole in hackney carriage law that dates back to 1847, a small local authority in Lancashire is handing out taxi licences “like sweeties” to anyone rejected by their own council, as a way of generating extra income.

While the hackney carriage licence stipulates that drivers must only operate as a hackney carriage - able to pick up customers from the street or taxi ranks - within the boundaries of the issuing authority, they are permitted to operate with a private hire company, such as Uber, anywhere in the UK.

“Its an abuse of power, and the consequences are really quite serious,” said Andrew Gwynne, Labour MP for Denton and Reddish, a nearby constituency. “Not just for local taxi companies - because it’s flooding the market with Rossendale taxi plates - but also because passengers are effectively getting into cars with people who their local authority have deemed unsuitable to have a taxi licence.”

“In Tameside, and other Greater Manchester authorities, they have stringent checks for people who apply for taxi licences. They look at criminal records, incidences of violence, child sexual exploitation, all those kinds of things,” he added.

“Yet there’s a local authority, Rossendale, that’s basically handing out taxi licences like sweeties as an income generation scheme, and it’s a problem for every other local authority.”

According to figures released today by Tameside Council, Rossendale issued 2,500 hackney carriage licences in 2015, for a population of around 70,000; one taxi for every 28 people and, more than all ten of Greater Manchester’s metropolitan authorities put together.

In contrast, Tameside Council has a population of 220,000, and only 150 hackney carriages.

Rossendale taxi plates have been spotted operating as far away as Bristol. This alternative route is so well-known in fact, that when typing ‘hackney carriage’ into Google the first suggested search term is ‘Rossendale.’

“The fact is they’re using it as income generation, to subsidise their libraries and swimming pools and council services,” Gwynne added. “That’s great, but actually it’s really destroying the taxi business across Greater Manchester, which is the nearest neighbour to Rossendale, and it’s also undermining some of the fundamental principles of the taxi license regime.”

He gave an example from one of his constituents in Tameside, who after being racially abused by a private taxi driver, took down the taxi plate and reported the incident to Tameside Council. It later emerged the driver had been refused a licence by Tameside for ‘legitimate reasons,’ but then received one from Rossendale without the same checks.

“If you decided that you wanted to be a taxi driver in Bristol and you’d been turned down by Bristol Council for various reasons - it might be a history of violence, or because you have racist views, a variety of reasons you’d be refused - but you know that you can get one from Rossendale and operate on the streets of Bristol, you’re going to do it.”

With the rise in app-based private hire companies, such as Uber and Lyft, the need to update the licensing regime is even more urgent.

“This applies to Uber in exactly the same way,” said Gwynne. “They’re private hire vehicles that come to pick you up when you order a taxi through Uber. In terms of public safety and assurance, you want the confidence that the person who’s come to pick you up to take you wherever it is you’re going, actually has been subject to the appropriate checks, and not just been given a licence willy-nilly.

“The rules need tightening up,” he added. “I’m sure in 1847 when these rules were drafted nobody appreciated all those years later that Rossendale Council would be exploiting what they’ve found is an income generating loop hole.”

source: https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/tr ... g-out-taxi

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Inde ... 992bdf671d

1855 hrs

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

the number of your representatives present speaks volumes of the regard we are held in

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

[quote="captain cab"]Andrew Jones Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

That is why the Government intend to commence sections 165 and 167 of the Equality Act 2010 this year.

Without 166 as well, is it the end for exempted Drivers? Intended or accidental omission?

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Chris The Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mc ... re=related

Heres the act;


165 Passengers in wheelchairs

(1) This section imposes duties on the driver of a designated taxi which has been hired—

(a) by or for a disabled person who is in a wheelchair, or

(b) by another person who wishes to be accompanied by a disabled person who is in a wheelchair.

(2) This section also imposes duties on the driver of a designated private hire vehicle, if a person within paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) has indicated to the driver that the person wishes to travel in the vehicle.

(3) For the purposes of this section—

(a) a taxi or private hire vehicle is “designated” if it appears on a list maintained under section 167;

(b) “the passenger” means the disabled person concerned.

(4) The duties are—

(a) to carry the passenger while in the wheelchair;

(b) not to make any additional charge for doing so;

(c) if the passenger chooses to sit in a passenger seat, to carry the wheelchair;

(d) to take such steps as are necessary to ensure that the passenger is carried in safety and reasonable comfort;

(e) to give the passenger such mobility assistance as is reasonably required.

(5) Mobility assistance is assistance—

(a) to enable the passenger to get into or out of the vehicle;

(b) if the passenger wishes to remain in the wheelchair, to enable the passenger to get into and out of the vehicle while in the wheelchair;

(c) to load the passenger's luggage into or out of the vehicle;

(d) if the passenger does not wish to remain in the wheelchair, to load the wheelchair into or out of the vehicle.

(6) This section does not require the driver—

(a) unless the vehicle is of a description prescribed by the Secretary of State, to carry more than one person in a wheelchair, or more than one wheelchair, on any one journey;

(b) to carry a person in circumstances in which it would otherwise be lawful for the driver to refuse to carry the person.

(7) A driver of a designated taxi or designated private hire vehicle commits an offence by failing to comply with a duty imposed on the driver by this section.

(8) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (7) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(9) It is a defence for a person charged with the offence to show that at the time of the alleged offence—

(a) the vehicle conformed to the accessibility requirements which applied to it, but

(b) it would not have been possible for the wheelchair to be carried safely in the vehicle.

(10) In this section and sections 166 and 167 “private hire vehicle” means—

(a) a vehicle licensed under section 48 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976;

(b) a vehicle licensed under section 7 of the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998;

(c) a vehicle licensed under an equivalent provision of a local enactment;

(d) a private hire car licensed under section 10 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.


166 Passengers in wheelchairs: exemption certificates

(1) A licensing authority must issue a person with a certificate exempting the person from the duties imposed by section 165 (an “exemption certificate”) if satisfied that it is appropriate to do so—

(a) on medical grounds, or

(b) on the ground that the person's physical condition makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult for the person to comply with those duties.

(2) An exemption certificate is valid for such period as is specified in the certificate.

(3) The driver of a designated taxi is exempt from the duties imposed by section 165 if—

(a) an exemption certificate issued to the driver is in force, and

(b) the prescribed notice of the exemption is exhibited on the taxi in the prescribed manner.

(4) The driver of a designated private hire vehicle is exempt from the duties imposed by section 165 if—

(a) an exemption certificate issued to the driver is in force, and

(b) the prescribed notice of the exemption is exhibited on the vehicle in the prescribed manner.

(5) For the purposes of this section, a taxi or private hire vehicle is “designated” if it appears on a list maintained under section 167.

(6) In this section and section 167 “licensing authority”, in relation to any area, means the authority responsible for licensing taxis or, as the case may be, private hire vehicles in that area.


167 Lists of wheelchair-accessible vehicles

(1) For the purposes of section 165, a licensing authority may maintain a list of vehicles falling within subsection (2).

(2) A vehicle falls within this subsection if—

(a) it is either a taxi or a private hire vehicle, and

(b) it conforms to such accessibility requirements as the licensing authority thinks fit.

(3) A licensing authority may, if it thinks fit, decide that a vehicle may be included on a list maintained under this section only if it is being used, or is to be used, by the holder of a special licence under that licence.

(4) In subsection (3) “special licence” has the meaning given by section 12 of the Transport Act 1985 (use of taxis or hire cars in providing local services).

(5) “Accessibility requirements” are requirements for securing that it is possible for disabled persons in wheelchairs—

(a) to get into and out of vehicles in safety, and

(b) to travel in vehicles in safety and reasonable comfort, either staying in their wheelchairs or not (depending on which they prefer).

(6) The Secretary of State may issue guidance to licensing authorities as to—

(a) the accessibility requirements which they should apply for the purposes of this section;

(b) any other aspect of their functions under or by virtue of this section.

(7) A licensing authority which maintains a list under subsection (1) must have regard to any guidance issued under subsection (6).

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

don't drivers already get exemptions via sect 166?

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

As far as I am aware, 166 is not commenced and he (Andrew Jones Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)) explicitly said "Government intend to commence sections 165 and 167 of the Equality Act 2010 this year".

So I wonder if he meant "sections 165 and 167 " or "sections 165 to 167 inclusive".

Neither will bother me personally, I do wheelchair work, lots of it. Some of my colleagues have temporary or permanent exemptions however. Others are just bone idle of course.

Some LA's will only grant a new plate to a WAV vehicle, and urban myth has it that only exempt Driver/Proprietors are getting their applications for a plate in.

My question remains, mistake or intention with the sections to be commenced?

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Chris The Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mc ... re=related

deliberate mistake perhaps ?

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