Taxi Driver Online

Thanet taxi drivers: ‘Punishing new rules will create a darker world for us drivers’

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/new ... ld-327759/



Taxi drivers have hit out at council proposals which could punish them for wearing their preferred shorts or leaving their cars unattended.

Thanet District Council (TDC) has come under fire after releasing a draft of its policy for private hire and Hackney Carriages, which proposes a penalty points system to keep drivers in check.

If voted in, infringements imposed on workers could include not adhering to the dress code, not having a fire extinguisher or first aid kit or honking the horn to announce their arrival.

The dress code will prohibit the wearing of sports shirts, baseball caps and shorts – unless they are “smart tailored”.

It also forbids leaving your taxi unattended, having a cab that is too old or not green enough.

It has led to outrage within the cabbie community, with dozens gathering outside TDC’s Margate offices on Friday to vent their frustrations.

Muhammet Yesiloz told KentOnline: “If it is enforced within six months, even a year, no one will be able to keep up with it, and half of the drivers will be left without any work.

“So, a council with this policy will create jobless people rather than improving society.

“We do understand the upper government wants a greener world, but this greener world, implementing it in this sudden manner, will create darker lives for the drivers of Thanet.

“We want to know if the judgment system will be fair enough, it is so open to abuse.

“Anyone can report anyone – if someone hates the way a driver looks, or his background, or just for the sake of fun, anyone can be reported.

“Have they considered the earnings of the drivers when they're doing the policy? When they implemented that we should buy cars younger than five years old, which costs minimum of £15,000?”

The release of the council policy, which is only at a draft stage at the moment, took many by surprise.

While there has been an appetite for change and improvements in safety for both passengers and customers, it is feared there may be too much change in one go.

Andrew McMillan likened the situation to “using a sledgehammer to crack a nut”.

He added: “I'm not disagreeing with the council, it's great that we're actually getting on board and trying to improve things.

“But it's too much all at once, and it's bringing to the surface lots of frustration and anxieties just in the day-to-day job.

“Sadly, they haven't given us a voice, I would say, for the last six years.

“If you leave your car unattended, you'll get penalty points or you're at risk of getting penalty points, but what does unattended mean?”

Penalty points will remain on a licence for a period of two years from the date on which they are imposed, and if a licence holder is given 12 or more penalty points within two years, they will be put in front of the council.

In its papers, the council says penalty points “will be used to deal particularly with minor breaches or infringements of legislation, policy or unacceptable behaviour by licence holders.”

“It supports a risk-based approach to enforcement as the points threshold for considering further sanctions will be triggered by repeated or serious breaches.”

It also declared “authorised officers will assess whether standards of dress are acceptable or not”.

The council has not yet been able to clarify how exactly it will seek to enforce its rules.

Mustafa Okur noted the job often requires seeing people “in the worst of situations and the best of situations”.

He told KentOnline: “We don't get any of the support that we need, and because of that, we find that sometimes we're unable to do our jobs.

“This point system, while good as an idea, there's no clear, transparent method or burden of proof.

“Some specific language would be great because, believe me, you tell us how we can get bad drivers out, we'll be a bigger force for you than the police.”

A TDC spokesperson said the points system is only intended to be used if complaints are received from the public or officers have evidence of concerns.

“The council has a statutory duty to ensure the safety of any taxi or private hire customer,” they added.

“This policy ultimately aims to ensure that vehicles used are mechanically sound and that drivers are fit and appropriate to hold a licence.”

Explaining the council is out to consultation, they added: “Comments on the proposals are invited until Friday 8 August so there is still plenty of opportunity to provide feedback.

“The council has directly contacted local taxi drivers, their operators and a range of key stakeholders to ensure they are aware and to encourage them to respond.

All comments received during the consultation period will be shared with the Licensing Board in October for full consideration, before a final policy is agreed and implemented.”

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IDFIMH

Given that the current Best Practice states that councils that require taxi/PH to have fire extinguishers must arrange training for drivers on how best to use them, I wonder what plans the council has in place to address that.

At a complete guess, I would say sweet **** all.

_________________
IDFIMH

If only the council had rules that would allow it to deal with age limits and emissions.

_________________
IDFIMH

Indeed, Sussex, it does all sound a bit like the age and emissions rules are part of the penalty points scheme

To be fair, though, I suppose the problem for the press is distilling a huge amount of information into a digestible form for the hoi polloi actually reading their stuff

Anyway, I had a look at the stuff last Friday, and meant to post something, but was worried I might lose the will to live by that point

But this is the page here, and the licensing documents are at the bottom. There's a main document, then 15 or so appendixes

https://www.thanet.gov.uk/info-pages/li ... ultations/

And the problem is that you have to go to the main document to find out which each appendix is about - they're just lettered Appendix A through to Appendix O, with no description on the main page.

Don't know how many times I was back and forth between the main document and the numerous appendixes, looking for the relevant stuff.

(And another problem was that they're in Google docs format rather than the usual pdf, and thus a bit trickier to download etc - I should have just downloaded the whole lot from the start, but instead just flitted between the various documents while online, with a not particularly fast connection )

Anyway, it was the fire extinguisher stuff I looked for eventually, and I could only find two mentions in the whole 16 or so documents

And, basically, it was a failure that attracted three penalty points:


Which begged the question, what is an *approved* fire extinguisher?

So I looked at several documents, and no luck.

So decided to look back at the penalty points thing, and then realised a wee detail was present that I'd not noticed initially:


Ah, so maybe it's in the specific HC bye-laws document, rather than the more general vehicle stuff etc

And there it was


So does that mean that an 'approved' fire extinguisher is simply one that is 'efficient'? Well, who knows - certainly doesn't seem to be any other mention of fire extinguishers in the sixteen or so documents apart from that.

And which begs the obvious question, why HC and not also PHVs?

And, of course, as per what Sussex said, there's zero mention of training for drivers, or whatever

Obviously didn't look through all the documents, but was amused by the suggested ban on 'bare chests' in the dress code, which seems an oddly non-technical way to put it.

But which reminds me, I'll have to start wearing a shirt while on the rank

Or maybe it's just aimed at those Essex girls who drive taxis

...and, for what it's worth, this is probably a better article in terms of clarity about the points system and suchlike.

And the link at the bottom is the same as the one I posted above...


Drivers predict Thanet ‘taxi crisis’ with release of council’s Private hire and Hackney Carriage draft policy

https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2025/07 ... ft-policy/


Image: Frank Leppard/Isle of Thanet News

Private hire and Hackney Carriage drivers in Thanet say a new draft policy which introduces a penalty points system for ‘breaches’ will create a taxi crisis.

Drivers demonstrated outside Thanet council’s offices in Margate last week in protest at ‘too many changes all in one go’ contained in the policy.

Points of contention include being penalised for leaving a car unattended, having to adhere to a dress code and only being allowed to use Euro 6 compliant vehicles.

Thanet council says the policy is to ensure vehicles are ‘mechanically sound’ and drivers ‘fit and appropriate to hold a licence.”

The policy says: “The fundamental aim of this policy is protection of the public. In particular, it aims to ensure that licensed vehicles are safe, comfortable, insured and are driven by safe, professional and competent drivers.”

But Hackney Carriage driver Andrew McMillan said many of the changes are ‘ambiguous.’

He added: “They need to be clearer, realistic and workable.

“The council is trying to make lots of improvements which we want but it is too much in one go. They should be giving taxi drivers a voice to understand what challenges we face in the trade and working with us to improve things.

“We know they want improvements but the policy is punitive, we are being told we can’t wear shorts unless they are tailored or will receive three points. It says we can’t leave a taxi unattended, so I can’t park my taxi to go for a coffee. This is a rule from 1847 when taxis were drawn by horses!

“There are age restrictions on taxis which will put drivers under pressure. A car will have to be less than five years old to be compliant for cleaner air. And this could cost drivers £15,000. This will cause a crisis for the taxi trade in Thanet, drivers will be forced to leave the trade in a time when people already can’t get a taxi. It is going to be disastrous.”


Image: Frank Leppard/Isle of Thanet News

The points system would mean any driver who receives 12 or more penalty within two years will face enforcement. The draft policy says: “If a licence holder accumulates 12 penalty points in any 24 month period, then they will be asked to attend a hearing of the Licensing Board to consider appropriate action in respect of their licence. Such action could include suspension or revocation of a licence or a written warning as regards future conduct.”

The policy also contains sections on displaying badges, disabled customers and assistance dogs, DBS checks and vehicle condition.

Mr McMillan says drivers are asking that the policy is not implemented – other than anything required legally – for at least three months to give members time to form an association with key members then involved in talks with the council.

They are also asking that future policy changes are delivered in ‘bite size chanks’ to give time for any necessary adjustments.


Image: Frank Leppard/Isle of Thanet News

A Thanet council spokesperson said: “The council has a statutory duty to ensure the safety of any taxi or private hire customer. This policy ultimately aims to ensure that vehicles used are mechanically sound and that drivers are fit and appropriate to hold a licence.

“The council is currently out to consultation on a draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy. Comments on the proposals are invited until Friday 8 August so there is still plenty of opportunity to provide feedback. The council has directly contacted local taxi drivers, their operators and a range of key stakeholders to ensure they are aware and to encourage them to respond.

“All comments received during the consultation period will be shared with the Licensing Board in October for full consideration, before a final policy is agreed and implemented.

“The proposals contained within the draft policy are in line with government legislation and reflect many of the measures already in place in other areas of Kent.

“The points system proposed is only intended to be used if complaints are received from members of the public or if officers have evidence of concerns.”

The proposed policy, background documents and online form can be found on the TDC website.

Thanet District Council currently licences 93 hackney carriages and 112 hackney carriage drivers; 472 private hire vehicles and 543 private hire drivers and 58 private hire operators.