Taxi Driver Online

UK cab trade debate and advice
It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 8:21 am

All times are UTC [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 24 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Author Message
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 7:00 am 
Offline

Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 6:33 am
Posts: 13815
Drivers travelling more than 100 miles to get their licence after being rejected by Wakefield Council

https://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news ... -1-9259485

Cabbies in Wakefield are travelling 106 miles to get their taxi licence from Wolverhampton because their rules are less strict, it has been claimed.

Private hire drivers are able to operate anywhere in the country provided they have permission from a single local authority.

And now Wakefield’s licensing committee has been told that companies in the district are sending their staff to the West Midlands to get their licence after they’ve failed to meet the requirements locally.

The claims have been repeated in other parts of the UK and on Monday taxi drivers in Wolverhampton took part in a ‘go-slow’ protest, as they accused their council of making it too easy to enter the trade.

It comes as councils in West Yorkshire are trying to agree on one set of taxi rules to cover the whole region.

Councillor Elaine Blezard told the committee: “I’ve heard through taxi drivers that a lot of them are going to other councils to get their licences because of how stringent our rules are.

“If we are working together (with other councils), why are they going to places other than Wakefield?

”Councillor Yvonne Crewe said that at a recent meeting with local taxi bosses, one firm owner told her that he sent drivers to Wolverhampton because the process was “quicker”.

She said she was not originally aware of the 2015 law change that meant cabbies could live and work away from the licensing authority.

Coun Crewe said: “When I was first told this, I had visions of a convoy coming over the top of the M62 first thing in the morning, and then going back at night.

“But this company’s drivers were refused here and they just sent them there. There must be something about Wolverhampton that makes them all go there and that worries me.

“We don’t check them, so how do we know they are fit and proper people?”

The BBC reported on Wednesday that Wolverhampton Council issued more than twice the number of private hire licences of any other local authority between March 2015 and March 2017.

The Wakefield District Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Association, which represents drivers, has recently been in conflict with the local council about rises in licensing fees and tough new emission rules.

Association co-chairman Wajid Ali claimed the licensing committee “didn’t have a clue” about the problems facing drivers in the district.

He said: “Wakefield Council has some of the highest licensing fees in the country.

“If you go to Wolverhampton, your licence costs £69 and you get it in 20 days.

“It’s not for us to say what the rules should be. The law’s the law and we are abiding by it. Everything we’re doing is legal. Call it a loophole if you will, but if it’s there drivers have every right to take advantage of it.

“We’ve been used as a cash cow by the council and we’ve been warning them of that for years.”


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 7:02 am 
Offline

Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 6:33 am
Posts: 13815
Quote:
She said she was not originally aware of the 2015 law change that meant cabbies could live and work away from the licensing authority.


Quite apart from the councillor being unaware of the 2015 Act, once again 'cabbies' could *live and work* away from the licensing authority before the new legislation :roll:


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 8:30 am 
Offline

Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 6:33 am
Posts: 13815
This other piece from Wakefield is related to the West Yorks superzone:

Taxis to display licensing stickers as council bids to improve public safety

https://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news ... -1-9259868

Image
Image: Wakefield Express :lol:

Taxis in Wakefield will have to display licensing stickers on their outside doors to improve public safety.

Wakefield Council wants private hire vehicles to have certification cleary and prominently on view, so customers can be reassured.

Local authorities across West Yorkshire are working their way through a set of new taxi rules which will eventually cover the whole region.

But it’s likely to be taxi companies, rather than taxpayers, that foot the bill for the stickers. Wakefield’s licensing committee chair, Councillor Martyn Johnson said that the move was an important step towards safeguarding the public.

He said: “When people are coming out of an establishment late at night they will be able to see that the vehicle they’re getting into is licensed.

“But the public safety is paramount, especially for lone travellers and especially for young girls.

“If they are pushed out of the car, as happened in my ward a few years ago, at least they will be able to see a number on the outside of the car.”

Taxi drivers have recently been in dispute with the council over a rise in licensing fees and tough new rules on emissions, which would force any cab made before September 2016 off Wakefield’s roads.

But Coun Johnson said he was keen to work with the industry.

He added: “We’ve had one meeting with them recently, which was interesting.

“I think this is going to be a long process but I want this area to be top of the list on this issue.

“I want our drivers to be ambassadors for the city and to promote the city.

“I’d like to sit down and work with them rather than drag them along because I think things get done much quicker that way.

“There’s been a lot of bad publicity regarding vehicle criteria, but I’m hoping we don’t go down that road again.”

But Wajid Ali, co-chairman of the Wakefield District Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Association, which represents drivers, accused the council of not engaging with them.

He said: “The police are perfectly happy with the vehicles as they are, but the council has a problem with them.

“The council’s got no knowledge in the trade or of the vehicles. “We’ve been used as a cash cow for a number of years and they won’t sit down and talk to us on a level playing field."


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 9:56 am 
Offline

Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:27 pm
Posts: 19639
StuartW wrote:
Quote:
She said she was not originally aware of the 2015 law change that meant cabbies could live and work away from the licensing authority.


Quite apart from the councillor being unaware of the 2015 Act, once again 'cabbies' could *live and work* away from the licensing authority before the new legislation :roll:

Hackney carriages have always been able to be licensed in one area and work on a private hire circuit in another area. The 2015 act made it possible for Private Hire drivers to do the same if they meet the 3 license rule.

_________________
Grandad,
To support my charity text MAYORWALK to 70085 to donate £5


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:26 am 
Offline

Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:56 pm
Posts: 2466
grandad wrote:
StuartW wrote:
Quote:
She said she was not originally aware of the 2015 law change that meant cabbies could live and work away from the licensing authority.


Quite apart from the councillor being unaware of the 2015 Act, once again 'cabbies' could *live and work* away from the licensing authority before the new legislation :roll:

Hackney carriages have always been able to be licensed in one area and work on a private hire circuit in another area. The 2015 act made it possible for Private Hire drivers to do the same if they meet the 3 license rule.



No they have not.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:18 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 11:47 pm
Posts: 19110
Location: Stamford Britains prettiest town till SKDC ruined it
heathcote wrote:
grandad wrote:
StuartW wrote:
Quote:
She said she was not originally aware of the 2015 law change that meant cabbies could live and work away from the licensing authority.


Quite apart from the councillor being unaware of the 2015 Act, once again 'cabbies' could *live and work* away from the licensing authority before the new legislation :roll:

Hackney carriages have always been able to be licensed in one area and work on a private hire circuit in another area. The 2015 act made it possible for Private Hire drivers to do the same if they meet the 3 license rule.



No they have not.



OH YES THEY HAVE

_________________
Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:29 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun May 24, 2015 8:55 pm
Posts: 479
we don't have any out of town Hackneys here any more due to our authority adding a condition to the operators licence the gist of it being that any operator that uses out of town hacks has to set up a separate phone line for them which has an intercept informing the customer that the driver is not licensed by the local authority and as such the local authority has no knowledge or control over the said driver etc then the customer has the option to continue with the booking or transfer over to the other line where they will only get locally licensed cars and drivers.

https://doncaster.moderngov.co.uk/docum ... rators.pdf

The nitty gritty is on the last page.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:36 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 11:47 pm
Posts: 19110
Location: Stamford Britains prettiest town till SKDC ruined it
Midlife martyr wrote:
we don't have any out of town Hackneys here any more due to our authority adding a condition to the operators licence the gist of it being that any operator that uses out of town hacks has to set up a separate phone line for them which has an intercept informing the customer that the driver is not licensed by the local authority and as such the local authority has no knowledge or control over the said driver etc then the customer has the option to continue with the booking or transfer over to the other line where they will only get locally licensed cars and drivers.

https://doncaster.moderngov.co.uk/docum ... rators.pdf

The nitty gritty is on the last page.



but if someone was to phone Grandad from your area and book a taxi to see Tom Jones at Belvoir Castle he could legally accept and do the booking as a Hackney and that has ALWAYS been the case

_________________
Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 4:07 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun May 24, 2015 8:55 pm
Posts: 479
but if someone was to phone Grandad from your area and book a taxi to see Tom Jones at Belvoir Castle he could legally accept and do the booking as a Hackney and that has ALWAYS been the case[/quote]

Don't have any problem with that it's drivers obtaining there licences in areas where they have no intention of working.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 4:27 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 11:47 pm
Posts: 19110
Location: Stamford Britains prettiest town till SKDC ruined it
Midlife martyr wrote:
but if someone was to phone Grandad from your area and book a taxi to see Tom Jones at Belvoir Castle he could legally accept and do the booking as a Hackney and that has ALWAYS been the case


Don't have any problem with that it's drivers obtaining there licences in areas where they have no intention of working.[/quote]


something that's been with us a while and will be into the future UNLESS there is a radical overhaul of taxi and PH law

_________________
Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 5:00 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun May 24, 2015 8:55 pm
Posts: 479
something that's been with us a while and will be into the future UNLESS there is a radical overhaul of taxi and PH law

Agreed but Doncaster has shown that you can take measures to dissuade the practice.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 6:57 pm 
Offline

Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:56 pm
Posts: 2466
edders23 wrote:
heathcote wrote:
grandad wrote:
StuartW wrote:
Quote:
She said she was not originally aware of the 2015 law change that meant cabbies could live and work away from the licensing authority.


Quite apart from the councillor being unaware of the 2015 Act, once again 'cabbies' could *live and work* away from the licensing authority before the new legislation :roll:

Hackney carriages have always been able to be licensed in one area and work on a private hire circuit in another area. The 2015 act made it possible for Private Hire drivers to do the same if they meet the 3 license rule.



No they have not.



OH YES THEY HAVE


show me where it says that.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 7:47 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:27 pm
Posts: 19639
edders23 wrote:
Midlife martyr wrote:
we don't have any out of town Hackneys here any more due to our authority adding a condition to the operators licence the gist of it being that any operator that uses out of town hacks has to set up a separate phone line for them which has an intercept informing the customer that the driver is not licensed by the local authority and as such the local authority has no knowledge or control over the said driver etc then the customer has the option to continue with the booking or transfer over to the other line where they will only get locally licensed cars and drivers.

https://doncaster.moderngov.co.uk/docum ... rators.pdf

The nitty gritty is on the last page.



but if someone was to phone Grandad from your area and book a taxi to see Tom Jones at Belvoir Castle he could legally accept and do the booking as a Hackney and that has ALWAYS been the case

We would have turned it down anyway. We wont do any of the concerts at belvoir castle because they can't organise the transport properley. Antway, Tom Jones has cancelled.

_________________
Grandad,
To support my charity text MAYORWALK to 70085 to donate £5


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 9:46 pm 
Offline

Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 6:33 am
Posts: 13815
grandad wrote:
Hackney carriages have always been able to be licensed in one area and work on a private hire circuit in another area. The 2015 act made it possible for Private Hire drivers to do the same if they meet the 3 license rule.


But wasn't the three licence rule for PH in place *before* the 2015 Act?


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 8:06 am 
Offline

Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:27 pm
Posts: 19639
StuartW wrote:
grandad wrote:
Hackney carriages have always been able to be licensed in one area and work on a private hire circuit in another area. The 2015 act made it possible for Private Hire drivers to do the same if they meet the 3 license rule.


But wasn't the three licence rule for PH in place *before* the 2015 Act?

Yes it was. The only thing that changed in the act was that previously a PH operator could only sub-contract to another private Hire operator from the same Council and now the Operator can sub-contract to any other private Hire operator from any area.

_________________
Grandad,
To support my charity text MAYORWALK to 70085 to donate £5


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 24 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

All times are UTC [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 104 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group