Taxi Driver Online

Sparks Fly at Taxi Meeting

16th July 2008

Town Hall officers were 'shouted and bawled at' by angry taxi drivers while outlining proposals designed to modernise their trade, a council chief has claimed.

Drivers followed up their abuse by 'boycotting' a subsequent explanatory road-show, East Staffordshire Borough Council's head of environment services, Andrew Bird, told a meeting of the council's cabinet.

But he vowed: "I won't tolerate the sort of behaviour that was endured by officers on the previous two occasions."

Mr Bird exposed the behaviour during a sparky debate on what had appeared a less than electrifying topic: the council's planned new Hackney Carriage and Private Hire policy and procedures.

The exchanges came after he presented a report which said the changes were designed to replace outdated guidelines and make the borough's taxi drivers and their vehicles "fit for the modern age."

Among the 18 separate recommendations were that all applicants should take the Driving Standards Agency test, abide by a formal dress code - which could mean wearing full-length trousers - and display in the cab an identification plate expected to cost about £8.

Introducing standard borough council door panels, ensuring all Hackney Carriages were wheelchair accessible from 2012 and requiring drivers to meet more stringent medical conditions and have a 'recognised qualification' were also among the suggestions.

Mr Bird said 'the trade' opposed all of the recommendations but that he and council colleagues were due to hold talks with representatives tomorrow which he hoped would be 'more sensible'.

Council leader Alex Fox called for a debate on three of the most contentious proposals: access, the new medical standard and the need for a qualification.

Deputy leader Julia Jessel suggested that she would prefer disabled customers to be served by a 'mixed economy' of taxis, with some equipped to carry wheelchairs and others not.

She also indicated that she feared the qualification demand could prove to be 'the straw that broke the camel's back', but said she strongly favoured the tougher medical conditions as they would bring the trade into line with the drivers of other public service vehicles.

However, Ali Chaudhry, who represents Anglesey ward for Labour, attacked the medical element of the proposals, arguing that there was no need to introduce more stringent conditions as there was no evidence that the council's existing powers to request additional health checks were inadequate.

Despite his complaint, he was told by another Tory deputy, Malcolm Barratt: "It's about raising the bar and that's about the interests of the drivers and the public."

Nevertheless, Councillor Barratt bowed to Councillor Jessel and agreed to put the qualification element of the recommendations on hold until after the meeting with the drivers.

After the cabinet had backed all the other proposals, Councillor Chaudhry said the abuse outlined by Mr Bird was 'totally unacceptable' and that he had been assured by drivers' representatives that their members would not behave the same way at tomorrow's session.

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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