Taxi Driver Online

The Wolverhampton public protection Twitter account is never one to provide lots of details about compliance operations, but this is the first one this year, and is even less informative than usual:

...but if you want the inside track on it all, then Taxi Point is the place to go

But where does all this information come from? The article on the Taxi Point website displays the tweet, as above, which basically says next-to-nothing.

But read the Taxi Point article closely, and maybe it's more about supposition, embellishment and a tiny bit of sensationalism, such as the use of the word 'crackdown' in the headline. Which, as per usual, makes it sound like something non-routine, as opposed to, you know, routine stuff.

And, most obviously, there seems to be an element of guesswork as regards what stuff was checked, as per the highlighted paragraph. Also the doubtful claim that the operation was 'led by City of Wolverhampton Council licensing officers', which seems a bit strange given that it's not on their home patch, and I'd guess that if Wolves was to expand on the tweet, they'd go for the 'working closely with partners' schtick, as opposed to leading the whole thing in another council area

But, of course, you can fairly safely say stuff like: "Vehicles were stopped to verify licensing status, insurance, identification plates and general compliance with local and national private hire rules", because to an extent that's stating the obvious, and no-one is really going to challenge it.

On the other hand, it does seem a bit 'arms and legs'-ish, because who knows precisely what was checked?

And maybe there were no Wolves cars checked at all, because they couldn't find any; maybe that's why the Tweet is so vague. And read the Tweet literally, and the whole Taxi Point article, and there's nothing definite to say that any Wolves cars were in fact found and checked



Out-of-area private hire vehicle checks hits Nuneaton streets as cross-border cabs face late-night crackdown

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/licen ... order-hire

Licensing officers carried out late-night compliance checks on private hire vehicles in Nuneaton and Bedworth last Friday as part of a joint operation with police and council enforcement teams.

The patrol was led by City of Wolverhampton Council licensing officers alongside Warwickshire Police and colleagues from Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council. Vehicles were stopped to verify licensing status, insurance, identification plates and general compliance with local and national private hire rules.

Such operations rely on police powers to stop vehicles, while council officers assess licensing conditions and take action where breaches are found. Outcomes can range from advice and warnings to licence suspension, prosecution or vehicle seizure in more serious cases.

The checks come against the backdrop of growing concern across the taxi sector over cross-border hire. Under current legislation, private hire vehicles can be licensed by one council but operate anywhere in England, provided bookings are taken by an operator licensed by the same authority as the driver and vehicle.

Joint patrol highlights enforcement focus as councils face pressure over out-of-area private hire vehicles

Industry groups and many local authorities argue the system is increasingly being used to base large numbers of vehicles in areas far from their licensing authority, often because standards and fees are lower elsewhere. This has led to claims of unfair competition for locally licensed drivers who must meet stricter conditions on vehicle age, emissions, safeguarding and training.

Enforcement is also more complex. Councils have limited powers over vehicles licensed outside their area, meaning investigations, complaints and disciplinary action often have to be referred back to a distant authority. Joint operations are one of the few tools available to identify illegal activity such as uninsured driving, false plates or drivers working without a valid licence.

The Government are currently consulting on what changes are needed to tackle cross-border hire as part of a major reform shake-up around taxi and private hire licensing. Councils continue to step up visible enforcement to manage its impact on local taxi markets and public confidence, particularly in busy night-time economies.

And the likes of that reads a bit AI-ish, particularly when the basic premise of all this is endlessly repeated on Taxi Point.

Which is all very well as an explainer for someone new or fairly new to all this, but for a specialist trade publication it seems to be constantly going round the houses, with the cross-border issue explained several times a week, if not every day

And, as per usual, it seems to just stick to the official line without critiquing it, thus effectively doing Wolverhampton's job for it. But rather than parotting and embellishing the official council line, why not say that the whole PR bollocks-fest is fatally undermined now that it's claimed by people in powerful and influential positions that Wolverhampton basically can't do compliance and enforcement properly because it's the council that's the victim of legislative shortcomings.

And check out the likes of this AI-esque stuff in particular:


That makes it sound like the 'backdrop of growing concern' has been going on for a few months, or maybe a couple of years at most.

But pretty sure that's been going on for about 10 years now, thus not long after the enactment of the Deregulation Act in 2015

Of course, we all do stuff like that to an extent - jazzing things up, assuming stuff and cutting and pasting churnalism-style.

But there's just something about the more modern approach that's a bit, er, you know...

(And I'm always trying to do stuff on my laptop that I should be getting on with (maybe not unrelated to the whole Wolves thing ), but I get distracted, and it's a lot easier to blabber on on here about stuff like this

I think it's called displacement activity, or something like that )

so Nuneaton and Bedworth but not Coventry ?

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

Don't know, Edders.

But Wolverhampton Council should certainly be sent to Coventry

(Not something I've heard for a while, so younger readers might not get the reference )

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictio ... o-coventry

So after the official Wolverhampton lack of words at the top and the arms and legs, and round the houses stuff and embellishment from Taxi Point, this is the official council version

But, of course, it's from Nuneaton and Bedworth Council, as opposed to Wolverhampton

To be fair, though, it doesn't look like there was much found. And it's not specified which council's car was the one suspended.

Maybe it was a local car, so the council here won't say that in the hope that Wolves will take any blame in the eyes of casual readers


Joint private hire vehicle and taxi compliance check operation hailed a success

https://www.nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk/ ... -a-success

During the operation, 27 licensed vehicles were stopped and checked.

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council’s Licensing Officers worked alongside City of Wolverhampton Council Officers and Warwickshire Police to conduct compliance checks earlier this month, stopping both Nuneaton and Wolverhampton licensed vehicles.

Of the drivers stopped, seven were given verbal warnings, and one had their licence suspended pending relevant repairs being completed satisfactorily.

The operation was hailed as a success by all the authorities involved and additional operations are expected to take place later in the year, including one in the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth.

Future operations will continue to be supported and funded by City of Wolverhampton Council, with Warwickshire Police and potentially other local authorities supporting.

Under the current law, applicants are able to apply to any licensing authority for taxi licences and councils cannot refuse an applicant simply because they live in a different area.

Cllr Tony Venson, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Enforcement, said:

“This is great news, these checks not only help to ensure public safety, but they also guarantee that the private hire and taxi drivers working within our borough and beyond are operating legally and with appropriately safe vehicles.

“I look forward to seeing more of these operations taking place in the future.”

Cllr Bhupinder Gakhal, Cabinet Member for Residents Services at City of Wolverhampton Council said:

"We take our licensing responsibilities seriously and our officers work proactively across the country, wherever our drivers work, carrying out regular operations with partners to protect the public and ensure they travel in safety.

"We will continue to support Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council and others to carry out further compliance operations such as this to make sure vehicles meet the requirements to carry members of the public.

“This includes cracking down on taxis using 'ghost plates', which are illegal, and using our laser readers to ensure all vehicles have at least 1.6mm of tyre tread."

Inspector Wayne Boulton of Warwickshire Police said:

“We were pleased to see most taxis we checked were safe and compliant. These checks help keep the public, especially vulnerable people, safe from unlicensed drivers.

“We urge passengers to book through reputable companies or apps and always check the driver’s ID and displayed licence.

“Following the success of this operation, we plan to repeat it soon to cover other areas of the county.”

Usual sloppy use of language - elsewhere in the press release, the terms 'taxi' and 'private hire' are clearly distinguished, yet the above statement is obviously about private hire.


In reality it guarantees bollock all of the kind


Maybe it's just me, but have they mentioned the laser tyre tread readers before?

But typical of Wolves to mention stuff like this and the DBS checks to make it sound a bit more impressive than in reality it is.

And the rest of the Wolves input is the usual: "We take our licensing responsibilities seriously and our officers work proactively across the country, wherever our drivers work, carrying out regular operations with partners to protect the public and ensure they travel in safety."

Again, you can't really 'ensure' anything. Nor can any other council.