Taxi Driver Online

What is your view of cross-border hiring?

https://www.taxidefencebarristers.co.uk ... er-hiring/

By Stephen McCaffrey

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced a number of taxi and PHV reform workshops in June and July to hear your views.

The announcement was made by the DfT’s Head of Buses and Taxis, Buses and Taxis Division Catriona Henderson saying:



The DfT said that the workshops will also provide an update on early thinking about the other commitments the Government made in the response to the Task and Finish Group’s report, including the introduction of national minimum standards and national enforcement powers including:

• increasing the size of the geographic area in which journeys must start and/or finish (e.g. mutual recognition and adjoining areas), possible flexibilities (e.g. multiple licences),

• exemptions for vehicle types or services; and enforcement of the out-of-area requirements.

The DfT said the workshops are aim to give, amongst other groups, taxi and PHV operators an opportunity to share their views on how that proposed change to the taxi and PHV system could work.

How you can get involved:

Workshop Details

Wednesday 26 June 2019

The Rubens at the Palace
39 Buckingham Palace Road
London
SW1W 0PS

Wednesday 3 July
Details to be confirmed

DfT contacts: Paul.Elliott@dft.gov.uk & Catriona.Henderson@dft.gov.uk

I wonder why this has been kept a secret?

Giving folks less than a week's notice FFS?

That said these kind of things are a waste of everyone's time. Anyone going will have their views on CBH set in stone, having worked with this abuse of licensing for many years.

In short the ones who hate it will always hate it, the ones who love it will want nothing to change.

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IDFIMH

and that's the attitude that brings about Inertia

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

But in all fairness it's down to the government to sort.

The Task Force had a range of members, and they agreed a way forward, despite some having huge reservations.

The government should just get on with sorting the mess they have partially created.

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IDFIMH

Wondered about that - I would normally use the original source for this kind of thing, and link to that.

But can't find any trace of it anywhere online, except on the Taxi Defence Barristers' website, and that piece seems to have been repeated on TaxiPoint, and now on here and on another local blog.

So I suspect the invitations were only sent out to selected parties via email, Mr McCaffrey of Taxi Defence Barristers being one

Nice of him to share it, though

In a country who's consumers have a right or freedom of choice as to what services they buy and from whom they buy it from means that this type of CBH ring fencing of Pre Booked Hacks or PHVs is discriminatory to both Customer and service provider, it erodes the clients freedom of choice as to who they use for transport.

Customers in rural areas would suffer the most economically from such confines, they may need to get a Taxi from Miles away to get a place just a mile up the road that in the past the nearest Taxi or PHV residing just over the border would have taken them at a fraction of the mileage costs.

Indeed it may mean they can't get a taxi at all in a lot of cases.

Same goes for Airport Transfers, My customers use me because I am a reliable safe pair of hands that comes at a fair price, why should these customers living half a mile away over the border have the freedom to use my services taken away from them by a silly DFT ruling, I can understand there being a CBH law with regards the Ranking of Hacks operating out of area as they are hired on a first come first serve basis, customer freedom of choice is not an issue then.

I know that many of Pre Booked PH and Taxis from over my nearest geographical border area do the same on this side of that border, there is no nett gain or loss of business to either company though they would never take waved down or rank jobs from us nor us from them.

They need to retain customer freedom for Pre Booked vehicles regardless of where that business is based, the logistics of mileage to and from customers levels things out in any case.

The DFT should focus on local taxis ranking within their own area and not interfere with Customer freedom to use who they want.

It's like being told that If I buy a cheese sandwich in Morrisons in Carlisle that I would only be allowed to do so on the premise that it had to be eaten before i got to Gretna just over the Border...absurd idea but thats what the DFT seems to be suggesting our trade does.

Not sure you understand what CBH is down here.

It's not the one man operator that operates elsewhere following his customers that he has built up over time.

What it is is the mass influx of non locally licensed drivers who have only licensed elsewhere due to weaker entry criteria.

If you are a fan of lower standards then CBH is for you, however if you want better standards in our trade, then CBH is something you should be fighting against.

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IDFIMH

When it's not creating a problem in all areas and it seriously threatens rural drivers livelyhoods because it ties their hands and removes customer choice then it becomes a problem not a remedy.

Where it is a threat then sort it out in those areas, but blanket regulation is not needed everywhere.

The DfT process has no relevance whatsoever to Scotland. And I've never heard of any move to tighten up cross-border working in Scotland, which is already quite restrictive compared to down south.

The problem the DfT is trying to address is like Borders-plated cars working full-time in Inverness, or Aberdeen-plated cars working full-time in Dumfries & Galloway.

Anyone operating in Scotland has zero to worry about as regards what the DfT is doing.

Aye but when like me you live no more than 500 Yards away from England and those customers within a 5 mile arc on the English side who have been using my services to run them to their Local English village just into Northumberland over the southern side of the scottish/england border......this would deny several hundred rurally isolated people the use of their nearest Taxi Providers and force them to use a taxi that would need to make a 30 mile round trip for a 3 mile fare.

Around 10% of my work is carried out under such circumstances, not because it's financially life threating to me but because it provides a lifeline service to my Northumbrian neighbours who would have no Taxi or PH service at all if we Didnt do so......and the sparse population of that part of Northumbeland would not merit a Taxi or PH being based there.

Hell, these very same people living just over the Border from me in england have a Scottish post code, get their mail from a Scottish mail sorting office, they have a Scottish Telephone exchange and Scottish Phone number and they even register with Scottish doctors and get Free prescriptions in doing so, they have far more in common with the Local Scots as they do with their local Authority regime based 50 miles south of them, it it to be expected of me to turn these people and my friends away and have them pay £30 to a Northumberland Taxi instead of the £6.00 fare i may charge to the shop or the Extra £30 they'd need to pay to get to Newcastle airport......I cross that border daily, I sometimes have to cross through parts of england just to get the shortest route between two points in Scotland.

of course I worry about it, these are my fellow borderers regardless of them living in Northumberland or the Scottish Borders, the Scottish government might not take issue with it but Northumbria council might, this also apllies to my north Northumbrian Taxi/PH colleagues who are based further along the Border and who do what I do but in reverse.....If ever their needed to be an Exemption then it's in instances like mine in areas like mine.

Didn't realise you were so close to the border

But just can't see cars licensed in Scotland ending up any more restricted than they are just now. And even if things did change, it would more probably be because of legislation passed in Westminster rather than anything to do with Northumberland council.

Which in turn means that any change is likely to be several years down the line anyway.

But doesn't sec 75 of the 1976 act exempt Scottish licensed vehicles from any provisions in England, as long as they meet the provisions in the Scottish Acts?

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IDFIMH

I hope your right.

Quite certain it's written in your act as well.

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IDFIMH