Taxi Driver Online

Taxi drivers slam 'ludicrous' rules

A taxi driver has warned there will be "uproar" over proposed new rules that he claims will put many out of business. Limits on the age and mileage of hackney carriage and private hire vehicles could come into force for the first time, as restrictions on the number of hackney licences issued look set to be lifted. One driver from King's Lynn Taxi Services said the new conditions would be "ludicrous", claiming they would force those who can't afford new cars out of business.

On Wednesday, the council's cabinet is recommended to change licence rules, so all new hackney carriage and private hire applicants have to register vehicles under a year old. Such vehicles should also have less than 15,000 miles on the clock, and hackney carriages will have to be wheelchair accessible.

Existing licence holders will have to abide by the same rules, once they come to change or register a new vehicle. The proposal comes despite objections raised last year to having vehicles no older than three years, with less than 60,000 miles. At the time, members of the Licensing and Appeal Board said it was "not appropriate to exclude vehicles on their age or mileage – the important consideration was whether the vehicle was safe".

The driver, who did not want to named, warned: "This will cause uproar. New vehicles cost £10,000 minimum. Taxi drivers who can get credit for new vehicles will survive, but for those who can't, these conditions will put them out of work. "If a business has five or six cars that need replacing, where are they going to find £60,000 from? There's a lot out there who can't afford newer vehicles," he said. "The council will deregulate the number of hackney carriages, but with these conditions it will be cutting back on the ones already out there."

A cabinet report says higher vehicles standards are needed to "improve the safety and quality of the hackney carriage and private hire fleet across West Norfolk". At its meeting, the cabinet will also be asked to derestrict the amount of hackney carriage licences. It comes after the council's existing restriction was branded unfair, and blamed for a shortage of taxis in the area.

The council is currently the only authority in the county to keep a check on the licences it issues, and with a limited number available, they have been changing hands at around £6,000 each. Hackney carriage licences allow taxis to collect people who hail in the street, or they can be pre-booked. But private hire licences are only allowed to collect fares from people who have pre-booked.

At present, licence restrictions mean West Norfolk has the largest number of people per hackney cab, with one serving 2,183 serving – compared to 537 in Norwich and 581 in Yarmouth. However, a survey showed no significant unmet demand, as the borough is also served by the second-highest number of private hire vehicles in the county.

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IDFIMH

I'll give these guys Jimbo's contact details, I believe his offer to buy plates is still good?

Regards

JD

I'll be down there next week, They want a new WAV and delimit at the same time.. "I predict a riot" (Kaiser Chiefs)

I also predict the death of Hackney Carriage in Kings Lynn.

I bet it will be 100% PH within three years.

I don't recall offering to buy plates, I couldn't even afford to buy my own.

In the report to the Cabinet the LO says that in Yarmouth once they de-limited it had no effect on the number of licensed vehicles.

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IDFIMH

But they are still allowed saloons, When the WAV (NEW!) rule kicks in it will reduce numbers.

Assuming that KL do remove numbers, who's going to be next Jimbo?

JD

See that's something I can never work out about those (not Mr Jimbo) who pretend to represent us.

In some manors they moan about the huge increase in taxis following de-limitation, and in other areas they moan about a huge short-fall in taxis following de-limitation.

It really does give the impression they don't know too much about this trade. And how surprised am I at that?

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IDFIMH

A bit of joined up thinking is required here, Sussex. The answer is simply because no two L.A's. are identical.

The one thing all local authorities have in common is that they run the trade and not the taxi owners. All the plate holders are interested in is handing out the begging bowl to the council to keep there plate value. The drivers are little more than casual labour. When everyone is in the same boat there just might be some unity but then again probably not. The sooner this trade is brought to its knees the better it just might learn something about letting other people control what you think you own.

You’ve got to laugh:lol: ownership, thousands of pounds for a piece of plastic and at the drop of a hat the council put a pen through it, marvellous.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

If that happens I'll post Sussex's name and address on here

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

So a journalist seems to have a better grasp of surveys than many LOs, councillors and indeed the survey firms themselves.

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

I know who will be last!

Taxi driver in survival fight

A Snettisham cabbie is urging other drivers to join forces in a bid to change new council rules which he says will force them out of business. New restrictions mean replacement vehicles used by both private hire companies and hackney carriages must be under a year old with less than 15,000 miles on the clock – effectively brand new.

But owner-drivers will be crippled by the cost, according to Colin Ward, and many will be forced off the road, leaving a massive shortfall in the availability of licenced private hire cabs. "It is completely dictatorial and ridiculous. "The cars we use already have to be examined each year by a council-appointed garage and that's aside from an MoT. "A car with under 15,000 miles on it is brand new – they cost tens of thousands of pounds and it's just not necessary," he told the Lynn News.

Mr Ward, who runs Award Cars, is now appealing for other drivers to join forces in a bid to overturn the licence changes which were only agreed on Wednesday by West Norfolk Council's cabinet. The council is to deregulate the amount of hackney carriage licences, so more will be on the road. But at the same time it will instigate the new rules – which also see new hackney licences only issued to cabs with wheelchair-access.

Hackney carriage drivers can pick up fares from the street – but private hire cars need to be pre-booked – and both must be licenced by the council. The current restrictions on hackney carriage licences has been criticised by the industry for creating a shortage of cabs – but now drivers are furious that while one rule is to be relaxed, another is to be drastically tightened up.

"Owner-drivers or those with a lot of cars that need replacing just won't be able to afford it. "Effectively the bureaucracy will force us out of business and then there will be a shortage which takes away the whole point of de-regulating the hackney carriages," said Mr Ward.

Mr Ward drives a 12-year-old car which has to be thoroughly inspected each year aside from the usual MoT in order to retain the private hire licence – a system which has so far worked. The changes have come despite objections last year to a suggestion that vehicles should be less than three years old with less than 60,000 miles on the clock.

At the time members of the council's Licensing and Appeals Board said it was "not appropriate to exclude vehicles on their age or mileage – the important consideration was whether the vehicle was safe." Cabinet members agreed to review the policy after 12 months and officers are to carry out a review of the rank facilities in Lynn, Downham and Hunstanton.

If drivers affected by the new rules would like to form a lobby, they should contact Mr Ward.

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IDFIMH