Taxi Driver Online

There have been quite a few of similar pieces on TaxiPoint, but this is a local/mainstream press report (Sheffield Star) based on the evidence submitted to the TransComm investigation.

Not much detail here, but this is the link to the official Rotherham submission if anyone feels the need:

https://committees.parliament.uk/writte ... 48462/pdf/

All pretty predictable in a way, but the way this is all going demonstrates why even the (so-called) opposition in Wolverhampton are trying to portray the city as the victim in it all, rather than the perpetrator


Council officials raise concerns over out of town taxi drivers operating in Rotherham

https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/politics ... am-5340711

Council officials have raised concerns with MPs about out of town taxi drivers operating in Rotherham.

Officials from Rotherham Council voiced fears in evidence presented to a parliamentary select committee on the licensing of taxis and private hire vehicles.

They told MPs that they are worried over rules that allow taxi drivers who are licensed in other parts of the county to come and ply their trade in Rotherham, with Rotherham authorities having no information about them.

Rotherham bolstered its regulations after the child sexual exploitation scandal in the town, bringing in rules including taxis having video cameras inside the vehicles.

They want laws to be updated to keep up with changes in the industry, including the introduction of taxi apps, which also allow drivers from other areas into the town.

The authority told MPs in evidence: “It is considered essential that urgent action is taken to address the issues raised above, as the current situation represents the most significant threat to the safety of the travelling public in Rotherham.”

They told the committee that the current rules for hackney carriages and private hire vehicles are outdated and do not effectively protect the public from risks to their safety.

They said their main concerns were:

> The ability of vehicles to operate predominantly in a different area to that from which they obtained a licence (out of town working) exposes the public in that area to unacceptable risks to their safety.

> Laws have not kept pace with developments in the way that customers access taxis, particularly with regard to digital/ app-based services, which have brought an increase in the level of cross border working and out of town vehicles operating in a particular area.

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion also gave evidence.

She said afterwards: “Historic failures in local licencing were recognised as a significant contributing factor in enabling the horrific child sexual exploitation that occurred here.

“In response, Rotherham Council introduced some of the most stringent licencing regimes in the country.”

But she said the town’s high standards were being undercut by drivers, who can apply to other authorities with lower standards for their taxi licences and still operate in the borough.

She added: “This fundamentally undermines the efforts of Rotherham to ensure our children are protected and is unfair on the local drivers who work hard to lead by example."

But good to see the council here ignoring the TransComm's use of the misleading 'ride-hailing' stuff, and instead using a more apt description, in my opinion at least (and there's a bit of a pun in there ).

(In fact perhaps something like app-only would be more appropriate and accurate, because of the ubiquity of apps in the legacy trade these days, although I suppose 'app-based' is arguably the same as 'app-only', although perhaps not quite so accurate )

(and there's a bit of a pun in there ). I'll mark that one as a C-

Seriously though the consequences of x border were tweeted about 10 years ago and I didn't see any councils complaining then. This should have been pushed to the fore at the last election alongside CSE and the risks posed by out of town drivers. Although CSE is more of a local problem as out of town drivers are not part of the local community and so less likely to be in a position to target the vulnerable.

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