Taxi Driver Online

All the council seem to be asking for is for applicants to supply NI and tax reference numbers, where available.

Can't see where the claims about excluding the unemployed or part-time drivers comes from.

What the Dundee drivers seem to be getting at is that asking for the information may help to weed out drivers who are registered unemployed or part-time and working on the side. Nothing to stop them continuing to have a badge if they adhere to the benefit rules or start paying tax, but many will probably give up claiming benefits and/or start paying tax, or in many cases will not bother reapplying for a badge.

As for the legality of the council asking for these details, I can't wait to see someone mount a legal challenge

Last May when these declarations were first put in place, it was first tried on plate renewals which fall annually in the said month, the number of operators who failed to submit a renewal form was astonishing !! i'm talking guys who have been in the trade for 15 to 20 years. Now ! some of them were quoted as giving various reasons for non-renewal, ie; " The trade is finished " etc, but it is widely known the true reason.. TAX REFERENCE NUMBER ! The badge renewals in Dundee are on a 3 yearly basis so how many of the ex-operators who are now drivers, and how many of the drivers who are not contributing to the system will submit a renewal form ??? i'm all for a man having the opportunity to support his family but, when he's taking out the system and not putting anything back in, and your sitting behind him on rank counting pennies to stop that water thats slowly rising above shoulder level, it kinda both angers and disheartens you..So yes !! i agree with the form requirements..

I wasn't aware anyone had questioned the legality of a council requesting information, or as you put it, asking questions. The only thing that is being questioned is the prospect of a council refusing a license based on that particular question but as you rightly said, the council haven't mentioned refusing licenses so the matter is purely academic until such time they do?

It might be a good thing if they do refuse a license and the applicant takes them to court. The case should be most interesting.

Regards

JD

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They now have the full backing of the Scottish parliament if they should chose to limit plate numbers under best practice

im with tx op on this, last friday was one of the poorest on record,i saw two operators with expensive cars eventually giving up and going home early ,these guys cannot afford to do this, i ended up sitting on a rank for half an hour,there were five handy taxis on the rank two were driven by friday night drivers looking for beer money(there words)enen worse are the social security mob,no rent to pay no council tax, no income tax, a new car and two holidays a year , all at our cost,meanwhile we are all sitting about like dummys wondering if we could afoard one holiday this year,id like to see an assocaition/council meeting specificly to deal with this problem,one solution could be that when the offenders turn up with their renewal forms and claim(im not driving taxis)which they will, the council could make a list of all the people who claim they are not driving and it could be passed to all the taxi offices and displayed on the wall, this would put the final nail in the coffin for tax/benefit cheats and could prove beneficial in that it could help ops contact and offer deals to bring drivers back into driving

Benefit cheats can always be reported you know.

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Grandad,

They can't come to your house because it's your private property not your business.

Yes they can come to your car, but they can do that now.

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IDFIMH

I agree with you Sussex.......... at this present time they cannot come to your home/ House......... but according to the report I was watching........ they have been given new powers............ which will be implemented soon......... allowing them to come to your home......

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

ditto

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

It's all about part-time driving tax dodgers and benefit fraudsters.. who correct
me if i'm wrong, are mostly to blame for giving the trade a bad name !!

But if all they are doing is applying for a license the council cant refuse it providing the person is fit and proper?

JD is right

But if asking for NI details etc from an applicant the applicant will know theres a reason behind this....aint that the prevention?

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Requesting a variety of information on application forms is nothing new but many of us will realise that some requests are pretty pointless as the high court pointed out in the case of Aldrit. The fact is, if something doesn't apply then all you need do is put "not applicable". It has already been suggested that Dundee council are not going to refuse license applications based on this particular question so it remains to be seen what effect it has on the uptake of licenses?

On a personal note if you want real movement on this issue then someone is going to have to convince the respective Governments that taxi driver licensing is in need of more stringent controls.

How you go about that in this respect is entirely up to you but I racked my brains on it for years and I still haven't come up with a solution that is compatible with existing law.

Playing Devils advocate is meant to expose inconsistencies in an argument and I hope I have raised enough questions to make people think about the current legal situation and not what they might desire but in reality cannot achieve.

Regards

JD

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To a degree, but not exclusively.

The ones who give the trade a bad name are usually those drivers that don't have a long term future in the trade, thus don't give a f***.

And of course those that operate outside of the law don't help.

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IDFIMH

Having spoken to Dundee licensing I can confirm that anyone who is unemployed will be granted a taxi drivers license subject to the standard fit and proper person process but people such as students who have not yet started work will need to submit a letter with their application form stating why they have not yet got a tax reference number and it will then be up to councillors to determine whether or not they are granted or refused a license.

I just wish the person who started this thread could have supplied that information in the first place.



Regards

JD

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Well done JD. TBH thought as much.

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin