Opinion: Raising the standard to enter the trade leads to a better paid workforce and a more professional service.

Many of the problems besetting the world’s taxi industries stem from a lack of quality control.  Given that in many areas all that is required to become a taxi driver is an ordinary driving license and the ability to get through a fairly straightforward vetting procedure, it’s not surprising that the trade is often notorious for low wages, since the easier it is to do a job, the lower earnings will be.  And while in the economy generally those offering a poor service would usually earn less, because taxi drivers can get their work by virtue only of reaching the front of the rank or being hailed at random in the street, this principle does not apply.  Thus it’s perhaps no surprise that many drivers in the UK regularly earn less than the national minimum wage.

Of course, in many areas, both domestically and internationally, this problem has been recognised to an extent by limiting the number of taxis.  However, visitors to our website will be aware that we are not over-impressed by this idea – the number of drivers is no more controlled than in the usual scenario, and allowing some in the industry to control the ‘tools of the trade’ merely allows them to milk money from drivers who do not have a plate – ‘blatant exploitation by a cartel of owners’, as the American version of the TUC described the situation in New York.  Thus, as regards providing equitable treatment for all those in the trade, limiting taxi numbers is about as useful as controlling the number of buckets and chamois leathers for window cleaners.

Another school of thought holds that tariffs are the key, and that any rise in fares will automatically end up in the pockets of drivers.  Unfortunately this doesn’t work either.  To take an extreme example, if fares were increased substantially (and assuming that no business was lost as a consequence) and this doubled drivers’ wages, this would just make the trade more attractive to people doing other jobs for less wages, and some would therefore decide to become taxi drivers.  So while there might be a short-term boost to earnings, in the long term things would just end up back at square one – while each hire might be twice as profitable, if the driver only does half as many as previously then he might have more time to read books or listen to the radio, but he’ll have no more in his bag at the end of the shift.

On the other hand, if drivers are required to meet reasonable quality standards to enter the trade, then this will keep driver numbers in check and thus boost earnings, not to mention resulting in a more professional service.  This principle certainly seems to work in London, where the stringent ‘Knowledge’ test takes years to pass, but ensures that drivers earn a decent crust at the end of it.  Moreover, the London trade has a worldwide reputation for service quality, as compared to other world cities such as New York and Toronto.

While some local authorities do have reasonable quality control procedures in place, in others the picture is less rosy, and there are several obstacles standing in the way of a more uniform approach.

First is a lack of understanding by those involved in regulating the trade.  Of course, while many of the councillors who ultimately decide these things are no doubt capable people in many regards, as we all know their knowledge of the taxi trade is very often scant, at best.

Second, quite often there is contradiction between the needs of taxi owners (who prefer easy entry into the trade for drivers to ensure a continued supply for their vehicles) and the drivers themselves, who obviously benefit from fewer drivers entering the trade, whether they are a jockey/journeyman or an owner-driver who does not hire other drivers.  Thus while probably few London drivers would argue for the ‘Knowledge’ to be dumbed down, the opposite is often the case as regards taxi owners in the provinces who complain about a ‘shortage’ of drivers.  Moreover, for whatever reason drivers are usually under-represented and unheard compared to taxi proprietors, thus the latter’s views usually prevail as regards local authority policy.

This contradiction was ably demonstrated by an article in the July issue of Taxi-Today entitled ‘I don’t want to drive the bloody thing myself’, written by a taxi proprietor from Bournemouth.  The title says it all, and neatly demonstrates the ethos of those who think local authorities should assist in this aim by limiting the number of taxis while at the same time ensuring a constant supply of people to drive them.  Indeed, Bournemouth does restrict taxi numbers, but clearly the supply of new drivers is not good enough for the article’s author, who makes the wholly self-serving suggestion of allowing new drivers to join the trade without even paying a licensing fee.  After a year the driver would sit a proper knowledge test, which he would then presumably pass with flying colours, having learnt ‘on the job’. Thus in effect the proprietor wants no knowledge test at all, with the public having to suffer the consequent poor service, and the drivers having earnings decreased because of the extra numbers caused by reducing entry to the driving side of the trade to a bit of form filling.

Of course, the author ‘deserves to take it easier’, but clearly there are not enough so-called ‘drifters’ coming into the trade to make this possible.  Another obstacle is deemed to be the minimum wage in the rest of the economy – if this is considered a problem it ably demonstrates the kind of money this proprietor would be willing to see drivers earning in order that he could take it easy.  But, hey, he deserves it, and clearly nothing should stand in the way of him ‘living of the income of hard working drivers’, as he put it.  And the pitiful wages that such drivers would be earning would obviously be of no concern to him.

A third obstacle to a more uniform approach across the country as regards standards is the lack of impetus from government for such a stance.  While the Office of Fair Trading’s report made some reasonably positive noises about quality control regarding drivers, there is little evidence of any local authority activity in this regard.  Likewise, the DfT’s recently issued draft best practice guidance makes similarly encouraging noises, but it’s often difficult to reconcile this with the more laissez faire ethos often apparent regarding the guidance generally.  In any case, the guidance will be just that, and as the issue of restricted vehicle numbers demonstrates, the view of the vested interests in local trades will often hold sway, as outlined earlier.  Even where local authorities have derestricted taxi numbers and introduced an element of quality control, this has been at the vehicle level, and the number of drivers has generally not been considered.

But it’s about time that the authorities started paying more heed to those at the bottom of the pile and stopped ignoring them in favour of those a few rungs further up the ladder, with the latter currently preferring that the former are kept down there (unless, of course, they want to buy their plate).  As the House of Commons Transport Committee rightly said in the aftermath of the OFT report, drivers do not have the benefit of the minimum wage and employment rights, but its proffered solution (restricted taxi numbers) does nothing to help plateless drivers.  On the other hand, a reasonable knowledge test and a driving test (as a minimum) can boost earnings, provide a better quality service and in general lead to a more professional trade, as compared to the part-time/’between jobs’ environment currently evident in many areas.  And such an approach is hardly revolutionary, since it’s already in place in many parts of the country.

Of course, such an approach is anathema to people like our friend in Bournemouth, who bemoans the fact that he has to spend ‘hour upon hour behind the wheel to guarantee a living’.  And there are thousands like him throughout the country.  But it’s perhaps about time that such people realised that it’s increasingly a case of having to work if you want to earn in the UK taxi trade. The Bournemouth proprietor characterises this as the tail wagging the dog, but surely a more just approach would be to conclude that every dog has its day.

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