Taxi Driver Online

This could be in a number of previous threads...

But we'll see. Of course, things like this easy enough to say as a proposal for government, but usually not quite so easy to implement in practice.


‘Out of area’ taxi working will be banned under Labour

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/24 ... ed-labour/

‘Out of area’ taxi working would be banned under Labour, Andy Burnham has said.

Mr Burnham, speaking on his regular BBC Radio Manchester ‘in the hot seat’ phone in, also said he had verbal confirmation from Louise Haigh, shadow transport minister, that the practice would be stopped.

Out of area working is where taxi drivers register with one local authority, but ply their trade in another part of the country. Many minicabs seen on Greater Manchester roads are registered in Sefton or Wolverhampton.

Our region’s leaders have tried to curb the practice with measures in the new Clean Air Zone, by ensuring only taxi drivers registered in Greater Manchester would be eligible for the clean taxi fund. That is a pot of money available to cabbies to put towards the cost of upgrading or replacing their cars to newer, cleaner models.

Mr Burnham’s revelation on Thursday (February 1) is the first time an outright ban has been touted.

He said: “[On] out of area working — the ‘Wolverhampton Problem’ — I was in Westminster yesterday (January 31), discussing HS2 with the government, but I was also with the shadow transport secretary.

“I got a firm commitment from the shadow transport secretary that out of area working will be stopped under a Labour government.”

Since Mr Burnham spoke on the radio on Thursday morning, a Labour spokesperson has confirmed the party will reform ‘minimum licensing standards’ to ‘address the abuse of cross-border hiring’.

A statement said: “As Labour have already outlined, we will ensure there are minimum licensing standards across local authorities, for taxi and private hire vehicles, including for the safety of passengers, to address the abuse of cross-border hiring.”

The date for the general election has not formally been set, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has indicated it will be held during the ‘second half’ of 2024.

More than a third of private hire taxi drivers in Greater Manchester (GM) are licensed by a council that operates around 80 miles away in Wolverhampton.

Wolverhampton Council have previously denied that it is "quicker and easier" to get a private hire licence with them, claiming applicants undergo a "strict and rigorous" process that includes a one day training course, enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks, a medical certification and a face to face English assessment.

...for a start, that's not actually saying cross-border working would be banned. Just that minimum standards would be imposed across the country.

Couldn't see that happening, somehow. In fact, sounds more like an argument for reduced standards in areas with good quality control

Not to mention the issue of fees and processing efficiency. Cross-border working won't stop until there's a specific ban, and tinkering with quality control etc simply won't cut it.

I've felt for a year or two that Labour would do something in respect of cross-border working, should they form a government.

I also think it would involve more than just a minimum standards requirement, as I'm not so sure Wolverhampton or Sefton's requirements are that low.

The answer can be found, somewhere, in Scottish law as cross-border isn't an issue up there. Or a simple amendment to legislation ensuring PH work predominatly in the area to which they are licensed.

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IDFIMH

Andy Burnham is not an MP or a shadow minister he isn't really in a position to promise anything

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

But he was merely passing on what he had been told by the shadow minister.

That said I disagree with your assessment of his importance, I believe he does have significance.

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IDFIMH

Nothing particularly new here, but 'deregulation' isn't properly explained. That below sounds like it's about standards per se rather than the cross-border thing. Of course, the two are linked, but you wouldn't know from this that cross-border working had been the thing that was deregulated.

By the same token, the government's defence via the database is missing the point a bit - that'll help weed out some of the worst drivers, but doesn't directly address the standards thing and enforcement on the ground.

But at least the threat of a Labour government is encouraging some debate about the issues.


Labour: Deregulation of taxi standards undercutting post-Rotherham safeguards

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/labour-deregu ... 54586.html

Safeguards introduced in Rotherham following the child sexual exploitation scandal are being undercut by the Government’s approach to taxi standards, the shadow transport secretary has said.

Louise Haigh suggested the safety of women and girls was being put “at risk” and that “robust legislation” and “national minimum standards” were needed.

The Government said it had recently introduced stronger regulations requiring licensing authorities in England to use a central database to record and check safeguarding issues.

A 2014 report found at least 1,400 children were raped, trafficked and sexually exploited in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

The report also found that taxi drivers had a “prominent role” in child sexual exploitation across England, including in Rotherham.

Ms Haigh, the MP for Sheffield Heeley, which is close to Rotherham, told the Commons: “I have worked alongside victims and survivors of the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal.

“And following that scandal, Rotherham council set very high standards for its taxi drivers, including CCTV in its cabs, and requiring NVQ (National Vocational Qualifications) level three on child safeguarding.

“But those standards are being undercut by the Government’s deregulation of taxi standards, and nothing that the minister has set out this morning has stopped that.

“Doesn’t he agree that the position is putting women and girls’ safety at risk? And isn’t it time for robust legislation and national minimum standards to protect them?”

Transport minister Guy Opperman said: “On April 27, a new law came into force which requires licensing authorities in England to use a database to record refusals, suspensions and revocations made on safeguarding or road safety grounds.

“The new requirements mean that individuals who are not fit and proper to hold a taxi or private hire vehicle licence will not be able to apply for a licence with other authorities without that authority being aware of past safety concerns.

“This change will help protect passengers, including women and girls, as well as the reputation of the majority of drivers from those who are unfit to hold office.”

The exchange took place during a session of questions to transport ministers in the House of Commons.

Mr Opperman had earlier told the Commons that the Department for Transport issued guidance to licensing authorities in England to help them regulate the sector.

Labour MP Stephanie Peacock (Barnsley East) said: “Local councils have no jurisdiction over out-of-borough hires and concerns have been raised about differences in training and safety precautions required.”

She said cross-border taxi drivers – who operate outside of their licensing jurisdiction – do not have to abide by the same regulatory measures as those regulated by their local council.

Mr Opperman said: “There is already a database and there is already a duty on local authorities to share.”

The minister added: “Licences can be taken away in the circumstances she suggests.”

Labour MP Clive Betts (Sheffield South East) said: “When is the minister going to legislate to make sure that journeys can only be … in a licensed vehicle when they either take place or finish in the area where the (licensing) authority is?”

Mr Opperman said: “We have already brought in changes to the rules, such that individual local authorities can take action against another individual person who operates in that other authority.”

I wonder if a new Labour Government would go for the national PH license, then they could set standards nationally.

It would also be a way of sorting cross border, as the only borders will be between nations.

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IDFIMH

now you know as well as I do that they'll make loads of promises to nearly every trade and profession in the land and then once in power...


...zilch

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

Indeed, but the voters don't give a sh** either way, so it's not really a vote winner.

The pressure is coming from their own i.e. councillors and mayors who are having to deal with this cross-border mess.

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IDFIMH

bearing in mind that many councils affected are tory run you would expect a similar level of gripes heading towards sunak's clown circus but it seems to be only the labour ones

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

I suspect the Tory councils are less susceptible to pressure from the unions, and/or couldn't give a f***.

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IDFIMH