Taxi Driver Online

It's not 100 per cent clear from this, but looks like they had a 7-year-on rule, then reduced it to 5 years in 2021, but now considering reversing it to 7 years.

Not sure if there's an -off age requirement, though.

And the resident SKDC rep on here has now retired, so he may not be available to give us the full SP



South Kesteven District Council to reconsider new taxi regulations after warnings from drivers

https://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/ ... r-9253703/

Taxi drivers have warned that council requirements for newer vehicles are doubling costs and risk crippling local firms.

Vehicles in South Kesteven are required to be less than five years old when they are first registered as taxis in a bid to clean up the air.

The district council is urgently looking into relaxing the rules to protect drivers and firms.

Tim Harrison was one of the taxi operators who spoke out against the toll that the stringent exhaust pollution control limits were taking.

“The trade has just been through the worst two years in the 30 plus years I’ve been involved with it,” he told the Environment Scrutiny Committee on behalf of several local firms on Tuesday.

“Then enforcing an edict that doubled the purchase cost of your tool of trade was tantamount to a coup.

“Being forced to buy a car two years newer than previously led to a 100% cost increase. Coupled with increased fuel, licensing and running costs, it’s easy to see why the local taxi trade is in the state it’s currently in.

“[The requirement] will take money from the town. Instead of people coming in, they will spend their money in other areas.

“Did you consider the unfair pressure on trade in South Kesteven compared to other parts of Lincolnshire?

“Operators such as myself that hire vehicles out to other drivers will have their expenses rise exponentially.”

Driver Neil Dumbleton also told the committee that it felt like the industry was being “punished” because Grantham town centre was an air quality control area.

The requirement for taxis to be less than five years old was introduced in April 2021.

However, it may be rolled back now that the financial impact on the industry has been seen, with drivers only required to have vehicles less than seven years old.

Councillor Ashley Baxter (Ind) recommended that cabinet address the issue urgently.

“Five year old vehicles are much more expensive than seven year old ones,” he said.

“This is an unnecessary extra burden on the taxi industry, which is suffering anyway with fuel prices increasing and a shortage of drivers. It’s sad for both the industry and people who frequently use them.”

Councillor Phil Dilks (Ind) seconded the recommendation, saying: “Seven year first registrations seem reasonable given the economic situation we find ourselves in and the need not to damage the industry.”

The matter will now go to South Kesteven’s cabinet for discussion.

yes the day the vehicle reaches 10 years from first registration date

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

I can see age limits being binned in the years to come.

How much more polluting is a 10-year-old electric car compared to a 5-year-old electric car?

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IDFIMH

This has more to do with cars switching to Rutland plates and a big loss of revenue for SKDC than any environmental considerations

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

Another article related to this on bbc news website

South Kesteven councillor abused online over taxi policy change

A councillor has said she will not be "bullied" by online trolls over changes to the authority's taxi policy.

Linda Wootten said the abuse was prompted by a review of the rules around the age of vehicles.

Speaking during a council meeting she said the abuse had come from angry members of the industry.
Council leader Kelham Cooke, who said he had also been threatened online, said councillors should always be able to "speak our minds and debate".
Councillor Wootten is responsible for licensing at the authority and the review centred on whether a taxi drivers' vehicle should be aged five years or less when first registered.
It comes as the government is reviewing national best practice guidelines, which includes cutting the vehicle age from seven to five years.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Ms Wootten told colleagues she took her role seriously and carried it out "without fear or favour".
"During this process, I have been accused of lying and falsehoods, and certain taxi media have encouraged rubbishing my name online.
"I have remained professional at all times, and I can assure you I will not be intimidated, I will not be bullied and I am not a liar."

Mr Cooke said he was "incredibly sorry" at the way she had been treated.
He added that he had received death threats and stabbing threats in the past which "you never get used to."
"We should never be intimidated and always have the confidence to speak our minds and debate," he said.
Another councillor, Mark Whittington said a lot of people in public life were subjected to "unacceptable behaviour".
"We don't come into public life to have our reputations torn to shreds - we come to serve the public."

The cabinet resolved to review its taxi policy in three months.

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

We have an exit age of 10 years P/H and 15 for Hackney. There is no exit age for a zero emission capable vehicle.

Our age restriction for non WAV vehicles is 10 years. However this means that if a vehicle is plated for a year and it then reaches 10 years old it can continue until the plate expires. A few years ago I had a vehicle that the plated was renewed the day before it was 10 years old so it stayed on the road until a day before it was 11 years old.

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Grandad,

here it has to come off the road on the 10th anniversary of it's first registration irrespective of how long it is plated for

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

Wonder what she means by 'taxi media'? Messages left on some Facebook page somewhere, I'd guess

Interesting article, though, about the bullying etc if not the age rule.

Thought it looked pretty bad at first, but on closer reading I wonder if it's maybe a tad overblown? I mean, read the quote above carefully and, while some of the criticism Councillor Wootten has received will no doubt be over the top, does it warrant the overall tone conveyed by the article? But we can't really tell, because there's not much in the way of specifics about the responses she's received.

Take this, for example:


Nothing to say that this has anything to do with the trade, although read the article quickly and you'd be forgiven for thinking that was part of the responses to the age rule thing

And read some of the stuff below. Certainly sounds bad, but nothing to suggest any of this has anything to do with the trade, although in the round the article arguably gives the impression it is related to the trade.


I'm quite certain some of the responses to the age rule thing will be out of order, but on the other hand I'd guess this piece exaggerates them to a degree at least, and then extrapolates the thing out to a wider debate that's effectively smearing and gaslighting the whole trade without justification

Which makes no sense.

Is a 10-year-old PH more polluting than a 15-year-old hackney?

I would assume the opposite.

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IDFIMH

I think the reasoning behind it is the respective costs of replacing a WAV compared to replacing a saloon. Our entry age policy (for Hackney) has been amended until March 2023, meaning existing drivers are allowed to replace their vehicle with one that is not more than 10 years old, at least Euro 5 and newer than their existing vehicle. After this date, owners have to replace it with a new vehicle. Private Hire can plate a vehicle under 5 years. To complicate things further, a new WAV will only be licensed for 14 years if it is not Zero emission capable, the year after only 13 years and so on. Private hire will also lose a year every year as well. This way, all vehicles will be zero emission capable by 2036. Confused? Join the club!

I can see all these age limits going out of the window.

The costs of a new WAV is becoming far too expensive for the trade.

Not sure what the answer is.

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IDFIMH

I don’t know either. I just can’t see there being many WAV’s around in the future.

Speak to the good folks at The Taxi Centre and Cab Direct and they will tell you that the big car makers are not making the vehicles that can be converted to WAVs anymore.

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IDFIMH