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Mixed
messages
(4/8/2004)
Licensing
authorities are demonstrating differing
approaches to the Government's
de-limitation recommendation.
North
Tyneside
Members of North Tyneside's
regulation and review committee have
voted not to limit the number of taxis
operating, following the Office of Fair
Trading's recommendation designed to
increase consumer choice and decrease
waiting times.
But
a council spokesman told The Journal that
the policy would be reconsidered at a
committee meeting scheduled for August 5
in light of extra information provided
by the area's Hackney Carriage
Association.
Following
the committee's decision up to 30
drivers took part in a go-slow drive
from North Shields to Wallsend,
finishing at the City Hall.
The
local trade claim that councillors have
ignored a survey demonstrating that
there is no unmet demand for taxis in
the area.
Alan
Miller of the North Tyneside Hackney Car
Association complained that the number
of taxis in the area had risen from 103
to 173 in the last 10 years.
He
told the Evening Chronicle: "We
have seen cars coming from all over the
country because they can get their
plates here. We are talking about
married men with children who won't be
able to make a decent living if this
goes on."
Woking
Members of Woking Borough Council's
economic overview and scrutiny committee
have voted to retain the limit on the
number of taxis following the results of
an independent unmet demand survey
commissioned in February 2003.
The
committee also considered the Department
for Transport's letter setting out the
Government's position on restricting
taxi numbers.
A
senior consultant from TPi presented the
findings of the survey to the
meeting. The results of the rank
observations showed that there was no
significant unmet demand for taxis in
the Woking area.
The
report recommended that consideration
should be given to making some taxis
wheelchair accessible when vehicles are
replaced.
The
committee resolved that the limit on the
number of taxis in Woking be retained at
the current 54, with further
consideration being given to the issue
of new licenses to accessible
vehicles. It also resolved that a
further survey be carried out in 2006 in
accordance with Government guidance.
The
unmet demand survey will be further
considered by the council's executive on
30 September 2004.
Newcastle-under-Lyme
The borough council will spend
£15,000 on a survey to assess whether
there is unmet demand for taxis
following the Government's
recommendations on the issue.
Earlier
this year councillors agreed to increase
the the number of licenses from 45 to
48, ignoring a council officer's
recommendation to increase the number to
64. The last unmet demand survey
was carried out over 10 years ago.
But
Ian McCallum, former chairman of the
Newcastle and Kidsgrove Hackney Carriage
Association said that availability
problems only occurred for a handful of
hours on Wednesdays, Fridays and
Saturdays, and since many drivers don't
work nights licensing more taxis wasn't
necessarily the answer.
He
told the Stoke Sentinel: "All
they'll be doing is swapping private
hire drivers for Hackney drivers, it
won't bring in any more cars. A survey
can be made to say what you want it to
say and I'm sceptical as to what it'll
actually show. Unless someone is there
24/7, morning and night, how can it be
accurate?"
Trevor
Colclough of Sid's Private Hire said:
""At
the moment there's a demand for more
rank drivers to work nights, not for
more vehicles. There are enough already
but they are working at the wrong hours.
By giving out more licences, there won't
be any more vehicles on the road because
you'll just get private hire drivers
transferring over to Hackneys."
Wycombe
Councillors on Wycombe District
Council have decided to de-restrict the
number of taxis operating in the area,
provided that new license holders comply
with the specified quality controls.
New
license holders will have to operate
London-style taxis but existing owners
will still be able to operate saloon
cars.
Councillor
Allah Ditta argued against the change,
saying that he did not think demand for
taxis exceeded supply and that the move
could put current drivers out of
business. He said that if change
happened then it should be implemented
gradually.
His
Labour colleague Rafiq Raja said that
the move would affect people who don't
have holiday or sick pay or pension
rights, and many had invested huge sums
in their vehicles.
But
Conservative councillor Tony Green said
that the Labour group was ignoring the
advice of its own Government.
Councillor Green also claimed that the
trade must be profitable since plates
were changing hands for £50,000.
Solihull
Councillors on the Solihull
Council's Licensing sub-committee have
voted to remove restrictions on the
number of taxis awarded licenses.
The
policy change will be implemented
gradually over a 12-month period, with
an initial issue of 30 extra plates.
Committee
chairman Councillor Stuart Davis said
that the move would minimise the risk of
illegal taxis and cut waiting
times. He added that more
competition could lead to lower fares.
Before
the meeting committee members were
advised that failure to de-limit could
prove an expensive requirement in the
long run in view of the more onerous
requirements placed on restricting
authorities by the Government.
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