Taxi Driver Online

Didn't really take all this in, to be honest


Anger as bid to freeze fees for Wokingham taxis squashed

https://www.bracknellnews.co.uk/news/19 ... -squashed/

Anger has followed the bid to freeze licence fees for taxi drivers in Wokingham being thrown out.

During a meeting of the licensing and appeals committee earlier this year, it was suggested fees for licensed taxi drivers in Wokingham should be frozen.

Previously, licence fees for hackney carriages and private hire drivers, stood at £248, but this has since been increased by £42 to £290 for this financial year (2021/22).

There were discussions about an increase in March 2020, but these appear to have been reversed because of the impact of the pandemic.

Yet a bid to keep the licence fees at £248 appears to have been ignored by Wokingham Borough Council's executive committee.

At a meeting of licensing and appeals committee in June, Councillor Rachel Burgess (Labour, Norreys) proposed freezing licence fees for private hire vehicles a second time.

She also suggested that any driver who had paid the higher fee of £290 should be reimbursed the extra £42 they paid, in a motion which was seconded by Cllr Sarah Kerr (Liberal Democrats, Evendons) and passed.

But when Cllr Kerr followed up on whether the taxi drivers had been reimbursed, it has been claimed that the suggestion was never properly decided upon by the council's executive.

This was revealed at the licensing meeting yesterday (Wednesday, October 21).

Responding to Cllr Kerr's question, Stephen Brown, the interim assistant director of place at Wokingham Borough Council said: "The short answer is no. The executive made a decision that they would not continue to subsidise taxi licence, and that they would revert to the fares that were originally subscribed, so there were no refunds."

Cllr Kerr replied: "When was that decision made? We were not aware that the executive had turned down a recommendation of this committee."

Sean Murphy, public protection manager, said: "We did take that away as a suggestion, because obviously it's not within the gift of this committee to set fees or to reduce fees, it is only in the gift of the committee to recommend something.

"We did take that away and there was no appetite to take that up."

Cllr Kerr said: "I appreciate we're not decision-making, we make recommendations but that should have formally gone to the executive, and for there to be no public meeting to decide otherwise. Something doesn't smell right here, sorry."

The chairman of the committee Barrie Patman (Conservative, Shinfield South) asked for an investigation to be held into how the decision was made.

In a statement to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Burgess, who proposed the licence fee subsidy, said: “Taxi drivers have been impacted enormously by the pandemic with many of them unable to work for long periods of time. On top of that, their license fees have been increased. Given everything they have gone through, with some resorting to foodbanks and many struggling to make ends meet, to freeze their fees was the right thing to do and was fully supported by the licensing committee.

"It’s just not realistic or right to expect our drivers to be able to pay fees at this level when for much of the past 18 months they have been unable to work. They have been paying a license fee during the pandemic for a job they have largely not been able to do, and now they are expected to pay even more.

"The Conservative leadership did not even have the courage to discuss the recommendation at a public meeting of the executive. Instead, the recommendation from the licensing committee appears to have been simply ignored. A recommendation that would not be material to the council’s finances – but would be material to individual drivers.

"Apart from the impact on drivers and their families, this decision simply not to discuss the licensing committee’s recommendation undermines democracy at Wokingham Borough Council. The executive is within their right to vote down a recommendation of a committee. What they are not entitled to do is to pretend we do not exist. It is disgraceful."

Wokingham Borough Council has been asked for a statement on how the decision was made and for an explanation on why the decision to increase fees was taken.

pretty hefty increase that I wonder how they justify it

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

Perfect time to request an equivalent percentage increase on the tariff then?

_________________
Former taxi driver

That's assuming they haven't had one recently

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

There is one in the pipeline, of 10%. (Or maybe 5%) who knows, but it would be if passed, the first increase since 2013, almost 14 years ago, according to my maths

_________________
Former taxi driver

now you are being facetious

that's more recently than our last increase

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

So the lower committee asked for a freeze on fees.

Civil servants passed that request on to the higher committee, but no record of that request is in the public domain.

The higher committee said f*** off and leave us alone by refusing the freeze, but no record of that refusal is in the public domain.

The civil servants didn't inform the lower committee that their request was binned until this meeting.

Thank the Lord for open and transparent local government.

_________________
IDFIMH

Last fare rise was 12 years ago, according to this.


Local cabbies call for rise in taxi fares

https://www.bracknellnews.co.uk/news/19 ... axi-fares/

Cabbies throughout Wokingham have asked local council for increase in taxi fares after 12 years of fixed prices.

The proposal has been submitted to reflect rising fuel costs and a drastic rise in living costs throughout the borough.

This was raised at the Licencing and Appeals committee meeting (26 January 2022) where councillors considered this from the trade.

The request was submitted by Mr Mahmood Behroozi, a local trade member who commented: “It is shocking to see that price of diesel running above £1.50 per litre which is roughly 25% of business cost.

“Just in the past few months as demand has gone up, the cost of service parts and labour has gone up by 25% on average.”

The changes, if agreed, would see various changes brought to both the cost per mile and the cut off point for rising tariffs.

The initial flag distance being reduced from 863 yards to 440 yards and the cost per mile being increased from £2.10 to £2.90 for journeys undertaken between 06h00 and 22h30.

The changes would mean that a five mile day time journey would now cost £16.60 instead of £12.50.

The drivers also ask that the charge for the interior of a vehicle being soiled increase from £50 to £75 and for the exterior of vehicles from £10 to £15.

The final request was that they be able to charge an additional £2.00 per passenger where more than four passengers were being transported.

This follows a recent development in Bracknell in August 2021 where taxi fares were increased to reflect the cost of living.

Nick from J J M taxis in Bracknell said: “The previous increase in Bracknell was June 2011 and with a massive increase in the price of fuel the drivers petitioned the council and the council afforded us a bit more because of the rise in fuel costs and cost of living.

“This may be the reason for the petition being brought forward in Wokingham.

“It has helped more with making ends meet to be honest. The one thing though, is that when prices do increase it leads to slight less business because people don’t have that money because everything costs more for everything and the first thing to go from people’s budget is taxis.

“The business has been really poor due to the pandemic and 50 percent of taxi drivers in March 2020 just quit, however the slight increase in the fares did help the few remaining drivers that still worked.”

The Chairman of the Committee Councillor Barrie Patman stated: “The role of the Licensing and Appeals committee was to strike a balance between the legitimate aims of the taxi trade to maintain profitability in the face of increasing costs, while protecting the public from excessive fares.”

Never heard of different soiling charges for the interior and exterior before.

The card simply says Fouling of Vehicle Interior or Fouling of Vehicle Exterior

And for 12 years you have failed the former big time.

_________________
IDFIMH

I know it's a long time since the last increase, and can't be bothered crunching the numbers.

But just looking at the drops in yardage suggest that maybe this is a bit much all at once. Of course, this looks like the trade proposals, which probably won't be implemented in full anyway.

And looks like someone has got the interior/exterior soiling charges the wrong way round

I also smell a rat about the public contributions to the consultation right at the end of the article


Wokingham Borough taxi fares could increase as plans considered

https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/readi ... d-23199875

Hackney cab tariffs are set to increase from April across Wokingham Borough - here's what you're likely to pay

Taxi fares are be set to change in a Berkshire area following a consultation by cabbies.

Changes to hackney carriage fares in Wokingham Borough are set to including seeing the time the tariffs change to the more expensive night time rate from 11pm until 10.30pm.

Cabbies also want to the minimum charge, or flag rate, moved from 863 yards or 190 seconds to 440 yards or 150 seconds - as well as the rate from 167 yards/38 seconds to 120 yards/30 seconds.

People who throw up or otherwise foul taxis would also be hit by increased fees - from £10 to £15 for interiors and £50 to £75 for fouling the outside of taxis.

The charge for an extra passenger when a taxi is carrying more than four passengers would also go up to 50p to £2 per additional passenger.

Changes will come in, with or without modification, from April 1 2022, with the fares set to work out as follows:

Tariff 1 (between 6am and 10.30pm Monday to Sunday): £3 for the first 440 yards or 150 seconds and 20p for each subsequent '120 yards or 30 seconds or part thereof'

Tariff 2 (between 10.30pm and 6am Monday to Sunday, on Bank and Public Holidays and Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve between 6pm and 10.30pm): £4.50 for the first 440 yards or 150 seconds and 30p for each subsequent '120 yards or 30 seconds or part thereof'

Tariff 3 (after 10.30pm on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, all day on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and Boxing Day until 6am on December 27): £6 for the first 440 yards or 150 seconds and 40p for each subsequent '120 yards or 30 seconds or part thereof'

A report to Wokingham Borough Council said: "The process of setting a fare increase is complex and a balance needs to be struck between the legitimate aims of the taxi trade to maintain profitability in the face of increasing costs, while protecting the public from excessive fares.

"Local authorities have a statutory power to set the maximum fares that licensed Hackney Carriages (taxis) can charge for a journey.

"The trade is not obliged to charge the maximum fare. This means that Hackney Carriage drivers are within their rights to negotiate the fare down provided that the final agreed fare is no more than the maximum set."

A number of responses have been received from people living in Wokingham Borough following a consultation.

One person, unnamed in the council report said: "It is a challenging time for everyone late and appreciate the same applied to those that work in the industry, however, the increase in fares will make the use of taxis prohibitive for many who need to rely on such mode of transport for health matters (hospital appointments) and on occasion to work (for example social care teams where they are unable to drive to work).

"Furthermore it will introduce risk to individuals who may be needing transport late and night and decide to walk home as they are unable to afford the revised fares."

Another person said: "I do think that fares should be set at a higher rate, if the licensed cabs wish it. I usually take Ubers instead though, which are much cheaper, and I think this will drive more business that way. I'm happy we have options."

A third stated: "A rise in the cost appears justified in all the circumstances. The level of increase must, however, be a reasonable one.

"And with the rise, there needs to be an improvement (monitored regularly by Wokingham Council) in the quality and cleanliness of the taxis for hire at Wokingham station, and their meters must be clearly visible to customers sitting in the rear of the vehicle."

Wokingham Borough Council will discuss the fare changes at its Licensing and Appeals Committee on Wednesday, March 2.