Opinion: A driver says that Mr Perkins of the NATPHLEO should have stayed on the fence at the Transport Committee's oral evidence session.

Having dealt with, over the years, a number of different licensing officers myself, it came to me as no surprise whatsoever when the representative of NATPHLEO, Mr Peter Perkins, said in one breath, to the highly selective Transport Select Committee, ‘that he should sit on the fence in relation to de-restriction’, and in his next saying it would be a ‘disaster’.

If this is the view of NATPHLEO, instead of just its past Chairman, then I doubt there will be too much cheering around the country from his members, at the thought of piles more paperwork, and an endless stream of  ‘pointless bureaucracy’. Any time any of us hear complaints from LOs being over-worked, then perhaps we should simply refer them to Mr Perkins.

Thankfully NATPHLEO isn’t the only licensing officers association. The Institute of Licensing were crystal clear in there submissions to OFT, they want rid of quotas: ‘The Institute agrees with the OFT recommendation that quantity controls on taxi numbers should not be retained. We are not aware of any other area of licensable activity where demand is a criterion by which licences are granted. Not only do quantity limits act to discourage new entrants to the trade, but also they are expensive for local authorities to maintain’. One has to wonder why they weren’t invited to the Transport Select Committee’s meeting, but perhaps members of that committee didn’t want to hear an alternative view.

So what are we left with now? A system of restricting taxis numbers that will go in the end, of that there is no-doubt, but in the duration we will have countless more red tape, countless more bureaucracy, and countless more pointless surveys. These surveys aren’t going to be the ones we have at present that anyone with a brain can get around. No, they are going to have to consult with the world and his wife. Not just those inside the trade, but everything with a pulse outside of it.

But do drivers in existing restricted areas feel easy with that? If they do then they are in for a big wake up call. Go to any shopping centre and ask the first 100 people you see what they think of the taxi trade. Do you think they will all say nice things, because that’s foolish thinking and they will not? They will remember the last time they had to wait for a cab, the fact that it was pouring down, matters not. Or the fact that it was pub or club closing time also matters not. They will also remember the time they think they were over-charged, and the last time they copped old misery guts. Do you still feel confident?

But even if every person in that survey says your taxi fleet is the biz, it may not be good enough. The government has said that a council must show that consumers would be significantly worse off, if councils wish to stay restricted. How the bloody hell do you prove that?

What are the chances do you think, that customers will say that more availability is a bad thing? Do any of us see campaigns out there for fewer buses, for fewer trains? Do you see customer protests for fewer shops, for less choice?

But it seems in this wonderful trade of ours, we have representatives like Mr Perkins who wishes to give those he is meant to serve - consumers - less choice, and those he says he represents, licensing officials, reels of extra red-tape.

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