Taxi Driver Online

Fife taxi fares rise branded ‘direct threat to survival of trade’

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/people ... de-5376881

Plans to raise taxi fares in Fife have been slammed as “insulting and unsustainable” - and a direct threat to the survival of the trade.

The warning came from East Fife Taxi Association (EFTA) after Fife Council agreed a proposal for to a 5% rise from December 5. It is currently out for consultation, but has met strong criticism.

EFTA said daytime flag fares would go up to £3.78, and night-time charges to £4.95 - rises they said ignored the reality of running a taxi business.

The association said the proposed hikes were “so small that they don’t even cover inflation since the last review, never mind the steep rise in operating costs faced by drivers and operators.”

EFTA highlighted a host of rising costs facing cabbies.

It said vehicle prices have jumped by up to £15,000 since 2019, garage labour and parts costs are up more than 25%, insurance premiums remain about 40% higher than in 2022, and Fife Council fees have increased again, with new charges for meter reseals and missed tests.

A spokesperson for the association said: “This isn’t a fare rise - it’s a cost-of-living cut for drivers. The council’s proposal is completely detached from the reality of running a taxi in 2025. Drivers can’t cover their costs, operators can’t maintain vehicles, and passengers will soon find there’s nobody left to pick them up.”

The association warned that if the 5% rise goes ahead, many drivers will leave the trade altogether, vehicle maintenance will be scaled back as operators struggle to afford repairs - and safety and reliability standards will inevitably fall.

“It’s not just about money, it’s about safety and sustainability,” the spokesperson added. “Fife Council’s figures might look tidy on paper, but it is putting a vital public service at risk.”

The association is urging all taxi drivers and operators to object to the proposed fare scale and sign its petition at: https://eastfife.scot/campaigns/taxi-fares-2025/

Steve Paterson, legal team manager at Fife Council confirmed a rise in taxi fares would come into effect from December 3.

He said: “The fare review process happens every year through the Regulation and Licensing Committee. Following this year's review the decision to increase fares by 5% was taken at the committee in September.

“The fare review is currently subject to a period of statutory consultation following which all representations received will be evaluated and considered to inform the process prior to a final decision being taken next month.”

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IDFIMH

Both statements there a tad misleading - it's actually 11-12% on T2

The 5% on T1 is straightforward enough, but it seems it's supposed to be a 10% rise on T2. But the current increments are 25p, so 10% on that would be 27.5p. So it seems they rounded it up to 28p rather than down to 27p. But the upshot is that although the T2 flagfall goes up 10%, the increments are up 12% because of the rounding up.

So a very short T2 run on the flagfall goes up 10%, but most runs will end up at around 11% up because of the 12% rise on the increments

Of course, the longer the run, the nearer the total fare gets to a 12% rise. But will never quite get there

But on a longish T2 run of 20 miles or so, rounded up it'll be 12% on the total fare.

Well for the reasons stated above, they don't look tidy to me at all

Even worse, rather than change the flagfall and increments yardages to reflect the 5% on T1 and 10% on T2, they've come up with precise figures for the flagalls and increments to be shown on the meter - so the fares will be ending with pennies

Could chunter on about this for hours

But if anyone looked at the weblink to the EFTA website and had a wee look, they might have noticed something a bit odd - correct me if I'm wrong, but EFTA didn't actually specify what they wanted in terms of a rise, only that they wanted one...

Therefore...

And the corpse of EFTA has only recently been exhumed by, guess who? A couple reasonably new to the trade who've featured in several articles in the local press over the last couple of years.

No point going back over a lot of that stuff - and they do have a point (or several) about a lot of it.

But in their business guise as opposed to via EFTA, their submission to the council wanted the following:

• £1.90 on the T1 flagall
• £1.50 on the T2 flagfall
• bring forward T2 from 10pm to 8pm
• a 25% premium for 'minibuses' (by which I assume they meant when a vehicle is carrying more than four pax)

So, together with a slightly more modest yardage adjustment, a one-mile bread and butter run round town would have gone up 40%, while a one-mile T2 run would go up about 30%

Sorry, but you can't make adjustments like that without having a major impact on supply/demand etc

And, personally, I don't have a problem with the fare levels. My main problem is getting enough jobs, and getting on a rank in the first place, to the extent that a lot of the time I should be ranking, I'm at home

And you couldn't implement fare rises and adjustments like that above without having a major impact on rank space and the amount of jobs I'd be getting. Therefore...

I mean, they also said this in their submission:


Which just about sums it up - if they get more drivers for their *fleet*, it helps them, obviously, but how does that help me, precisely? Well, it doesn't - it makes it *worse* for me

(And leaving aside the more pedantic point that you don't 'recruit' self-employed drivers, and it's not a form of 'employment' - it's self-employment )

Who proposed the figures out for consultation?
What other proposals of drivers submitted? it is no good saying that the proposal is no good without submitting an alternative.

Grandad, I don't know precisely how the proposed figures were computed. As usual, there were a mishmash of figures submitted, and I suspect the council didn't actually agree with any particular set of submissions, and just came up with the proposed figures on a who-knows-what basis.

You can see some of the suggested numbers in the EFTA submission here. And that's just one organisation in one of the five zones, never mind other organisations and individuals

But, as you'll see from the EFTA submission, even therein there's a mishmash of suggestions, thus that's why no specific figures were submitted, presumably.

Check page 3 here in particular:

https://eastfife.scot/wp-content/upload ... esults.pdf

And if you're alluding to me when you say "it is no good saying that the proposal is no good without submitting an alternative", then my alternative is in the post above

But, like others who prefer the status quo I didn't make any formal submission. And I could write a book about why I don't get involved more generally. But here's one reason posted recently from the resurrected EFTA, who are quite hands-on/proactive/gung ho about it all (or whatever):


If that had been me it would have entailed a round trip of 45 miles or so, parking hassles and several hours of wasted time

I do intend submitting a response to the consultation, though. I think a modest rise of some sort was bound to happen anyway (fares were frozen last time), which was one reason I didn't submit anything. But I wasn't expecting those numbers with the pennies

As I always say about these things, it's the taxi equivalent of shops bringing back the 1/2p in their pricing

Certainly not.

Probably too much detail for people on here unless they're exceptionally anoraky about the fare-setting process under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, or if they're in Fife. In fact, possibly too much detail for many actually in Fife

But I think that in terms of the council's legal duty, the fares had to be 'fixed' by the end of an 18 month period since the last review, which fell on 3 December 2025.

('Fixed' basically means that a new tariff scale is implemented, or the the fares remain at the pertaining level.)

So after months of consultation and discussions, the council announced a fairly straightforward 5% on T1, and 10% on T2 (which would have broken the historical 25% T2 uplift - the effect of the different percentage rises would mean the T2 premium would now be 33% )

Anyway, as per the legally required procedure, the council published the new 'fare scales', and invited representations. That's been the fairly standard procedure for years now, and I can't recall anything really happening after that, except for the rise to be implemented on the due date, and the meters reprogrammed and then tested at the council depot.

But this time it's been delayed, and the council sent an email to all concerned before the Christmas break:


So that was mid-December, and not a peep since

But a couple of weeks ago the East Fife Taxi Association sent two communications to the council; one to the licensing chair, and one to the council solicitor dealing with the process (I normally try to avoid stuff like this, but as far as I can tell from a distance, the former lead officer who dealt with this kind of thing retired last year, and has maybe only recently been replaced. So a solicitor has been taking more of a role in all this...)

...anyway, this is the stuff EFTA posted on Facebook about the two emails, and then the two emails themselves. A bit of overlap between the two emails, and quite detailed in terms of the procedural requirements.

But it's all clearly enough explained and well articlulated. But, in essence, in terms of the council's legal obligations under the legislation, they're now two months behind schedule

Not sure if they maybe received more representations than usual. But the minority view seems to be that there's little point in a fare increase, while most seem to think the announced increase wasn't enough.

And there was a lot of disquiet (and amusement ) at the fact that instead of the meter going up in tidy 20p sums (£3.40 to £3.60, or whatever) the new rates would have meant random numbers like £3.39 to £3.63. Or something like that

But guaranteed to annoy both drivers and passengers





Letter from EFTA to Head of Legal, Fife Council licensing

I am writing on behalf of the East Fife Taxi Association (EFTA) to seek clarification on the statutory requirements and current status of the 2025/26 taxi fare review.

As you will be aware, the current taxi fare scale came into effect on 3 June 2024. Under Section 17 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, the licensing authority is required to review and fix taxi fare scales within 18 months of the date the existing scale came into force.

The Regulation and Licensing Committee initiated a review, published a proposed fare scale, and invited representations in line with the statutory process. A significant number of objections and submissions were received, including representations from EFTA and individual drivers and operators.

In an email circulated to operators, the Council advised that a final decision on the proposed fare scale had been delayed due to the volume of representations received. As of 22 January, no further update, revised proposal, or timetable has been communicated.

Given the statutory framework, we would be grateful for clarification on the following points:

1. Whether a taxi fare scale was formally fixed prior to 3 December 2025, being the end of the 18-month statutory period;

2. If so, the date on which that decision was taken and the legal basis on which it was fixed;

3. If not, how the Council considers its current position aligns with the requirements of Section 17 of the 1982 Act; and

4. What timetable Legal Services considers appropriate for bringing the fare review process to a lawful conclusion.

Drivers and operators across Fife remain in a position of uncertainty, facing ongoing cost pressures without clarity on future fare arrangements. Understanding the legal position and expected next steps would assist greatly in maintaining confidence in the regulatory process.

This request is made in the spirit of transparency and constructive engagement. We would welcome a written response at your earliest convenience.


Letter from EFTA to licensing and regulatory chair, Fife Council

Dear Chair,

I am writing on behalf of the East Fife Taxi Association (EFTA) in relation to the ongoing review of the 2025/26 taxi fare scale.

You will be aware that following the publication of the Committee’s proposed fare scale, a substantial number of representations and objections were submitted by drivers, operators and representative bodies across Fife. Subsequently, operators were advised that a final decision had been delayed to allow further consideration of those submissions.

As of 22 January, this remains the only update communicated to the trade. No revised proposal, timetable, or indication of next steps has been issued.

Given the importance of the fare review to the sustainability of the taxi trade, and the need for certainty for drivers and operators, we are now seeking clarity on how the Committee intends to proceed. In particular, we would welcome confirmation of:

1. Whether the Committee intends to re-engage formally with the trade before reaching a final decision;

2. Whether a revised fare proposal will be published for consideration; and

3. The anticipated timescale for concluding the review.

For completeness, we have also written separately to Fife Council Legal Services seeking clarification on the statutory framework under Section 17 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and how it applies to the current position. We felt it appropriate to make the Committee aware of that correspondence.

Drivers and operators across Fife continue to face rising costs and uncertainty, and the absence of a clear process or timetable only adds to those pressures. We raise this matter constructively, with the aim of ensuring that the review process is transparent, lawful, and concluded in a timely manner.

We would appreciate a response at the Committee’s earliest convenience and remain willing to engage positively as the process moves forward.

For what it's worth, this is the relevant section (17) of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1982/45/section/17

And this is the next section, which is about the appeal process to the Scottish Traffic Commissioner

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1982/45/section/18

And I doubt if there's been any litigation or case law regarding s.17, so anyone reading it can pretty much interpret it whatever way the want, if they think they can construct a compelling legal argument on any ambiguities etc.

And the appeal to the traffic commissioner is like an informal legal process, and would be perfectly possible for an ordinary member of the trade to construct an appeal without legal assistance, or whatever.

On the other hand, one of the judgments I read said that while the trade represented itself, basically, the council (Edinburgh, I think it was) had an array of officials and lawyers to make the opposite case

So although it seems the appeals process is relatively, er, accessible, to the extent that you're up against the council and all its financial and legal resources, then there's still a grossly unbalanced, er, power dynamic in play.

Doesn't potentially remind me of Sandie Peggie vs Fife Health Board at all

But despite the obvious power imbalance there, at least Sandie Peggie had plenty of people with power and influence on her side...

I think the local trade should appeal to the Traffic Commissioner now.

What have they got to lose?

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IDFIMH

Hadn't really thought about that Sussex, to be honest, but maybe that's because I'm happy enough with the current tariffs

But a quick look at the appeals process under s.18(1) suggests that until the process of fixing the new tariff under s.17(4C) is complete then there's no locus for an appeal.

So, basically, other legal avenues would need to be pursued in order to hurry the council along, kind of thing, and then the appeal process would be available.

But, of course, other easy and accessible legal remedies to hurry the council along aren't obviously and readily available

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1982/45/section/18