Taxi Driver Online

Another amalgamation - this time it's the new West Northamptonshire Council, which will include the old Northamptonshire and South Northamtonshire Councils

Maybe it's just me, and this one is quite short, but it seems even more full of bull and comms stuff than usual. But spot the major clanger in the statement by the councillor with the fancy pants job title - looks like they're more concerned with the flimflam than getting the basic English right


Share your views on taxi licensing policy

https://www.westnorthants.gov.uk/news/s ... ing-policy

Residents, businesses and professional drivers are being invited to have their say on an eight-week consultation on the Draft West Northamptonshire Council Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Licensing Policy.

The policy sets out the driver, vehicle and operator standards for hackney carriages and private hire vehicles for current licence holders and all new licence applicants.

If adopted, the draft WNC policy will replace the current policies for the former local authority areas of Daventry, Northampton, and South Northants.

The consultation specifically focuses on continuing to increase standards and robust measures to ensure public safety at all times, and is carried out under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

It is open until 26 March 2023 and you can have your say by visiting our Consultation Hub.

"This draft policy seeks to ensure that we work closely with professional drivers to provide them with access to training and processes to maintain vital safety standards.

"As part of the pre-consultation period we have undertaken engagement work with local licensed drivers and operators, which has directly supported the development of the policy to ensure that this collaborative.

"I would encourage residents, businesses and professional drivers to review the policy and have their say."

Cllr David Smith, Cabinet Member for Community Safety & Engagement and Regulatory Services

The partnership work also includes working with Northamptonshire Police as we look to develop a new safeguarding assessment to support professional drivers.

Once the consultation closes, all responses will be evaluated and considered. The evaluation will then be presented along with the policy to WNC’s Licensing Committee for consideration before the policy is adopted and comes into force.

There's a later thread on this, which is about the more specific stuff on vetting for terrorism

But this seems to be the more general thread on the new policy in the new council area, although all these slightly generic council names are a bit confusing

Chapter and verse on the threatened threads here, though, but whether it's more than a cohort of 'angry' drivers isn't clear. If it's just a small proprtion intending to strike then the rest will just fill their boots


Thousands set to be affected as more than 100 'angry' taxi drivers in Northampton set to strike against council's new rules

https://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news ... es-4073927

Strike action is set to start on Wednesday, March 22 for the next month – here’s what’s happening

Thousands of people are going to be affected as hundreds of ‘angry’ taxi drivers are set to resume STRIKE action against the council.

The App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU) – which represents private hire drivers and Hackney Carriage drivers – has criticised West Northants Council’s (WNC) Draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy 2023, which is currently out for public consultation until April 23.

The council says the new policy focuses on improving driver standards; strengthening the "fit and proper person" test; a more rigorous convictions policy; mandatory safeguarding training; spoken English testing; and driving standards training.

However the ADCU is strongly against the new rules, saying that have not been properly consulted when WNC drafted the 150-page legislation. And, ‘after consulting with all stakeholders’, the ADCU has decided to go on strike from March 22 until the end of the consultation period (April 23).

The strikes

Here’s how the ADCU will be striking in Northampton for the next month.

• From March 22 until April 23, there will be a two hour daily strike between 7 and 9pm
• If the council doesn't start ‘serious talks’ before March 31, the ADCU says it will be calling a series of whole day strikes, which will impact school and social runs
• Further strikes will be called ‘depending on the seriousness of the council’
• An ADCU spokesman said: “We are urging all Hackney and Private Hire drivers to go on a daily strike of two hours between 7 and 9pm at this stage.”

We know the public will be affected and we can only apologise for that’

Speaking to Chron and Echo, Shafqat Shah, Northampton Chair of ADCU, explained the ADCU’s motives.

He said: “We have decided to go on strike with limited disruption to the services and public to start with and also provide WNC with the opportunity to start serious negotiations during the consultation period.

"They are just paying us lip service [with this consultation]. We have seen this before with consultations where WNC get through what they want anyway. Our action plan is, why wait for this consultation period to finish before going on strike? We are putting pressure on them prior to the end of this period.

"We feel so strongly. We have to do something. We have drivers who are angry and want to strike straight away for 24 hours. But as a responsible union we don’t want to hurt the drivers or the public, we believe it’s better to start with the two hour strikes.

"We want a proper one-to-one with WNC. We don’t want this new legislation coming our way. We have seen the damage of rule changes that have happened in other cities such as Nottingham, Leeds and Wakefield.

"We don’t want this documentation. We want the council to sit with us. If it’s my livelihood then I should be consulted before this documentation is written up.”

If WNC fails to enter ‘serious talks’ with the ADCU, Mr Shah says the union will up the ante.

He said: “We will then be targeting the school runs. There are a lot of school runs. We won’t be taking any children to school.”

When asked if he would like to address the affected public, Mr Shah said: “This documentation has nothing to do with public safety. This is what we want the public to be aware of. It’s about making our lives harder. We want to work with WNC to resolve this.

"We know the public will be affected and we can only apologise for that.”

WNC response

Cllr David Smith, cabinet member for regulatory services outlined the council’s position.

He said: “WNC has made the decision to extend the consultation on the Draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy 2023 by a further four weeks while further engagement work is undertaken to seek views on the proposals. The consultation will now be open until Sunday 23 April.

“The proposed policy will supersede current policies for the areas of Daventry, Northampton, and South Northants and sets out the driver, vehicle, and operator standards for Hackney Carriages and private hire licensing for current licence holders and all new licence applicants.

“The ADCU have communicated that they will be undertaking two-hour daily strikes regarding the proposals. We are working with representatives to listen and respond to their views and encouraging people to have their say on the proposals through the consultation hub.

“Pre-engagement work has been undertaken with local licenced drivers and operators and we have also been working with the Police as we look to develop a new safeguarding assessment.”

This is from a different news source, and details the points system, but it doesn't look that much different to similar regimes elsewhere.


West Northamptonshire taxi drivers face losing their licences for breaking new code of conduct

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-03 ... int-system

Taxi drivers have reacted angrily to proposals for a penalty system which could see them lose their licences for offences including dressing scruffily and not helping with luggage.

The draft plan from West Northamptonshire Council puts forward proposals to impose a penalty system which would allow drivers to incur a maximum of 12 points in a 12-month period.

Taxi drivers could be punished for failing "to maintain a reasonable standard of behaviour", not being "clean and respectable in their dress" and failing "to offer reasonable assistance with luggage".

The proposals, which are under consultation until 23 April, have been widely condemned by taxi drivers in the county, who say the threat of losing their taxi licence for minor offences could mean they lose their livelihood.

The offences and their penalties include:

• 2pts - failing to attend a booking at appointed time;

• 2pts - drivers not being clean and respectable in their dress;

• 2pts - driver allowing noise from radio or other similar equipment to be a source of nuisance or annoyance to any person inside or outside the vehicle;

• 12pts - carrying more passengers than the number specified on the licence;

• 12pts - driving without insurance.

Any driver who accumulates more than 12 points will be assessed by a council committee, who will decide to revoke or temporarily suspend their licence, or issue a warning. Anyone who loses their licence must re-apply for it to the relevant council committee.

The plan also sets out lengthy bans for those who breach the code in any way, including a ban of seven years for "a conviction for any offence which involved the use of a vehicle," and 10 years for "a conviction for an offence of violence".

The draft proposals also mean that applicants who are foreign nationals, who have not been a continuous resident of the UK for more than five years since the age of 18, must produce a "certificate of good conduct" verified by the relevant embassy for every country in which they have lived for more than three months as an adult.

A spokesman for West Northamptonshire Council said: "The proposed policy will supersede current policies for the areas of Daventry, Northampton, and South Northants and sets out the driver, vehicle, and operator standards for Hackney Carriages and private hire licensing for current licence holders and all new licence applicants.

"The App Drivers and Couriers Union have communicated that they will be undertaking two-hour daily strikes regarding the proposals.

"We are working with representatives to listen and respond to their views and encouraging people to have their say on the proposals through the consultation hub."

Presumably this misrepresents the substance of what the ban is all about

Not sure about that?

Isn't that an operator issue?

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IDFIMH