Taxi Driver Online

Quite a lot of plying for hire revocations

A lot more than I would have expected, and even then that's very probably just the tip of the iceberg...

More detail would be interesting, because revocation would seem a bit harsh for one PFH offence, yet it's difficult to conceive that dozens of drivers have been caught PFH multiple times over the past few years.

And some interesting comments about delegated powers etc.


Leeds Council data shows the most common reasons why city's taxi drivers lose their licences

https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/ ... es-4068467

Plying for hire and “inappropriate behaviour” are the most common reasons behind Leeds taxi drivers losing their licences, council data has shown.

Since 2019, 86 private hire and hackney carriage drivers have had their right to trade revoked, according to Leeds City Council’s annual licensing report. The number represents a tiny fraction of the city’s trade, with around 6,000 drivers currently operating locally.

Plying for hire – where drivers illegally pick up a passenger in the street without taking a prior booking – was responsible for 29 of the revocations, although most of those date back to before the Covid pandemic. Only hackney carriages are allowed to take passengers without a booking.

Inappropriate behaviour was the second-most common reason, with 22 revocations, while motoring offences accounted for 20 drivers losing their right to trade. Ahmad Hussain, chair of the Leeds Private Hire Drivers Organisation (LPHDO) said the figures demonstrated that the trade was predominantly full of good people.

“86 drivers across four years is, in the context of the whole trade, a minimal number,” he said. “It proves what we’ve said all along, which is that the vast majority of drivers are decent, honest people who work hard and protect the travelling public they carry around with them. We don’t need the bad eggs.”

Mr Hussain said he hoped the numbers would encourage the council to change how it makes decisions on whether or not to revoke a taxi driver’s licence. Traditionally those calls have always been made by licensing officers, though some local authorities refer the decision to a panel of councillors.

Although Leeds is now shifting to a panel system for drivers who’ve clocked up too many penalty points on their licence, there’s no indication yet that that approach will apply to all cases. Figures from the report also showed that 76 local drivers had their licences suspended last year, though in nearly half of all cases that was due to medical reasons.

Relations between the taxi trade and the city council have soured in recent years, primarily due to contentious changes to the way they’re regulated. Under new rules brought in last year, drivers who reach nine penalty points for minor offences risk losing their licence, down from the previous threshold of 12.

The LPHDO claimed the change was disproportionate, given that taxi drivers cover many more miles than the average motorist. The council insisted, however, that it was acting on government guidance which has been handed down to all local authorities and that the new rules are still less strict than in other areas.

So that's 86 drivers revoked over four years, so about 21 per year

Compare that with Sunderland, which had only one revocation over one year, although only around 1,000 badges there, compared to 6,000 in Leeds.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=39223

But a crude comparison per annum makes Leeds 21 on average, compared to 6 in Sunderland adjusted pro rata for the number of badges.

And the Leeds figures included the main lockdown years as well.

So Leeds has more revocations than I'd expect, and Sunderland fewer.

Which is maybe explained by the Leeds propensity to revoke for plying for hire, which seems more than I'd expect.

And without looking at the precise figures, the vast majority of drivers in Leeds are PHDs, while in Sunderland HCD badges actually outnumber PHD badges, which would of course skew the revocation stats in terms of plying for hire

In the Peterborough and surrounding towns area I would estimate probably 25 to 30 per cant of the PH fleet is at it. Assuming it is a similar situation in other areas and many of the local drivers have relatives driving PH in many other areas so they get to discuss what goes on elsewhere at weddings, funerals and family get togethers then it sounds like a small percentage getting caught.

Of the original dozen or so Asian drivers that came to Stamford in the 1990's 7 had been disqualified for PFH in Peterborough but were given hackney licenses locally. In the Asian community it is considered normal practice because it was difficult to earn a good living honestly due to the large numbers of cars on the boards. Most of which were Asian owned and saw their fortunes being made importing drivers from back home.

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

I suspect part of it is down to the experience of the licensing officers.

If they have been in position a while, and have undertaken numerous enforcement actions, then dealing with folks plying illegally will be second nature.

_________________
IDFIMH