Taxi Driver Online

Huge rise in Sheffield taxi drivers travelling to London to get licences

A big spike in the number of Sheffield drivers travelling to London to obtain taxi licences has sparked further concern over
regulations.

Figures supplied to The Star by the GMB union show in the last six months - the number of drivers with a Sheffield postcode that holds a Transport for London taxi licence has risen from 53 to 177 - a massive 330 per cent increase.

In September 2016, The Star revealed over 700 taxi drivers that reside in Sheffield were handed licences from councils as far as Wales and Lancashire - over 400 of which came from the town of Rossendale near Blackburn.

GMB rep and Sheffield licenced taxi driver Ibrar Hussain has been campaigning on this issue calling for stricter regulation on cross-border taxi licencing.

He said: "There is a lack of enforcement or no enforcement at all as to who's driving these vehicles. Are they fit and proper? Are the vehicles safe to drive? Why live in Sheffield, but get licence from TfL?

Mr Hussain has been joined by senior council figures and Sheffield MPs on lobbying the Government to change the law . Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh said the figures were 'troubling'.

At present, a driver who lives in Sheffield can approach Transport for London for a private hire vehicle licence and come back to Sheffield to operate in the city with a number of firms.

Because the driver is licensed elsewhere in the country, Sheffield Council has limited powers to take enforcement action if needed.

Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh said: “Sheffield Council prides itself on its strict licensing and rigorous training conditions which help keep taxi users in our city safe. But the change in the law is riding roughshod over these protections meaning drivers from across the country can get a licence from areas with different standards and requirements and still operate in Sheffield.

"We have been warning the Government about this for months and these troubling new figures show it is now time to take action. Sheffield Council should decide who can and can’t operate a taxi in our city, not some council hundreds of miles away who haven’t the first idea about what protections Sheffield needs.”

Sheffield Central MP Paul Blomfield said he has been warning the Government about this since 2014.

He said: "I warned the Government that this would happen back in 2014 when they proposed the new rules, and I’ve pressed the case with Ministers since then.

"Allowing drivers to register anywhere in the country undermines Sheffield Council’s tough approach to regulation, putting passengers at risk. The Government is putting ideology ahead of common sense on the deregulation of taxi licensing.”

Read more at: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/huge-rise ... -1-8437916

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

Apart from with Uber how do ph drivers do that?

_________________
Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

I suppose that the simple answer is that they can't because jobs have to go through the driver's operator. However The Council are saying that they can't check who is accepting the job because they are outside of the Council area. I would have thought that the Council could check with their own operators who they were sub contracting to and take action against them if they were not following the rules.

_________________
Grandad,

Under the sub contracting rules is it legal for PH to operate exclusively outside their operating area. I think this is ripe for someone to "test" the law by bringing a case against an operator whose cars are working in an area for which they have no license. I am certain the law was not intended to be used in this way

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

This is not what the council are saying here. They are saying that the drivers are being licensed in London and working for Sheffield based operators which is not permitted. The Sheffiel operator can only sub contract to another operator and not direct to a driver.

_________________
Grandad,

but are the driver claiming to be 1 man band PH operators from London accepting subcontract work from Sheffield ?

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

They can claim what they like but they must be able to prove they have an operators license. If the sub contracting operator hasn't checked this then he could lose his own operators license.

_________________
Grandad,

grandad agree with you,this is where out of town hackney carriages fall foul of the subcontracting rules,a private hire operator can only subcontract to another private hire operator,it is about time licensing officials started implementing the law the way it is written,after all it was private hire operators who pushed for this.

SMALL OPERATORS LICENSE ALLOWS FOR UP TO 3 DRIVERS EASY TO GET VIA TFL

_________________
All posts by this contributor are made in a strictly personal capacity

I AM PROUD TO BE A CITIZEN NOBODY'S SUBJECT http://www.republic.org.u

F88K EM ALL WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

BOOZE BOOZE BOOZE

Your forgetting about Apps

_________________
Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

I do believe that Toots did mention that app earlier.

_________________
Grandad,