Taxi Driver Online

NATIONAL TAXI ASSOCIATION STATEMENT
IN RELATION TO RECENT LOCAL AUTHORITY DECISIONS
TO DE-LIMIT HACKNEY CARRIAGE NUMBERS

The National Taxi Association are concerned at the number of Local Authorities that are choosing to de-limit hackney carriage numbers throughout the country.

For many years, it has been the NTA view that the question of de-limitation is best dealt with on a local basis. Only at that level can the specific requirements of an area be reliably ascertained. Each area has differing needs. A policy that would suit a large city would obviously be out of place in a rural district. This approach was vindicated last year when the Government announced their view of the Office of Fair Trading report into taxis and private hire vehicles. The main outcome was that the Government effectively agreed with the view of the NTA and agreed that Local Authority control should remain.

The NTA, when looking at the issue, has believed that undersupply of taxis is just as bad as oversupply. It is the taxi user that ultimately suffers from a poor service. This is obviously not good for the trade, the local authority and, above all, the taxi user.

However, as an association, the NTA believes that local authorities, when considering the issue of supply and demand, should readily consider the guidance issued by the Department for Transport.

It is the opinion of the NTA, and it is believed to be beneficial to all concerned, that local stakeholders views should be given fair and proper consideration during any deliberations. It is only through the correct consultation and consideration of the facts that local authorities will arrive at a decision that is supportable. That is what the government seem to be looking at and what they are asking local authorities to do is to consider the position and to justify a policy of limitation of numbers if that is what is thought appropriate in a particular area. That is not the same as saying that Local Authorities are encouraged by the Government to de-limit. This seems to be a construction that has been put on the Government guidance and it is a construction that us simply not to be found within that document.

In the opinion of the NTA a Local Authority that issues taxi licenses without due consideration of the effects of doing so are not acting as responsibly as might be wished. On the other hand, those who choose not to issue licenses when there are good grounds for doing so would be equally culpable. The decisions made by the local authorities should be based on the factual material that is before them. It should be borne in mind that the policy of blanket de-limitation has been specifically rejected by the Government in considering the OFT recommendations.

In the view of the NTA, a local authority should regularly consider its licensing policy. That is what the government guidance suggests. Their objective should be to work with the trade to produce a situation that is best for the travelling public. To suggest that such an objective would be met by simply de-limiting on all occasions is logically unsustainable especially in light of the Government guidance that has been given and in the Government rejection of the core proposal of the OFT which was, of course, blanket de-limitation.


The Directors of the National Taxi Association

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Err, hello, the Govt OFT response said:

The Government is therefore strongly encouraging all those local authorities who still maintain quantity restrictions to remove restrictions as soon as possible.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

I wonder how often consumers/stakeholders are asked if they support licenses issued for nothing being worth tens of thousands because of closed markets?

But wait a minute, at the Trans Comm meeting the NTA claimed that evidence of premiums was just anecdotal

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

This is pure spin.

The Govt agreed with the OFT with regard to restricted numbers and recommended that LAs delimit except in exceptional circumstances.

But they didn't legislate to do this nationally, in my opinion this was for political reasons.

But where LAs wanted to retain restrictions the Govt were clearly determined to make it more difficult for them to do so, particularly as regards existing legal obligations, which many LAs effectively ignored.

In essence the Govt recommended de-limitation, but where this did not happen they basically wanted to make the best out of a bad situation that they recommended shouldn't be continuing.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

If that the case, are the NTA objecting to Brighton's decision to keep quotas, at least for another year, because they completely ignored customer views?

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IDFIMH

Beat me to that one.

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IDFIMH

And what evidence have we to support that?

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IDFIMH

Is there a public source for this statement such as an internet link, alex?

Best wishes

JD

I'm not sure JD.

The press release was sent to info@taxi-driver.co.uk as an attachment from the NTA. I expect it will be up on their site soon.

Alex

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ʎɐqǝ uo pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ ʎnq ı ǝɯıʇ ʇsɐן ǝɥʇ sı sıɥʇ

Simply the best taxi forum in the whole wide world. www.taxi-driver.co.uk

I think the press release refers to the government guidance to LA's



I see no contridiction, its a statement, the NTA's concern and the NTA's view.



There is no list of plate values available, outside this site and which was complied after the Trans Comm meeting.



Not really the point of the press release and not for the NTA to answer



The government have issued guidance, the NTA are obviously asking that local authorities use the guidance when assessing their needs.



I refer sussex to the above answer



You are faster than the NTA webmaster

regards

Captain cab

PS

You all seem to have forgot the following statement in the press release

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

The Govt's response to the OFT contained an Action Plan, part of which was as follows:

The Government agrees that consumers should enjoy the benefits of competition in the taxi market and considers that it is detrimental to those seeking entry to a market if it is restricted. The Government is therefore strongly encouraging all those local authorities who still maintain quantity restrictions to remove restrictions as soon as possible. Restrictions should only be retained if there is a strong justification that removal of the restrictions would lead to significant consumer detriment as a result of local conditions.

The DfT subsequently sent a letter to LAs in this regard, and provided some guidance as to the implementation of the Action Plan, which was of course included with the guidance

There does seem to be some contradiction between some things in the guidance letter and other Govt stuff such as the Transport Minister's statement in Parliament, and we highlighted this when we ran a piece entitled 'Government U-Turn?' -

However, presumably the Government's Action Plan takes precedence over the subsequent DfT guidance on it, particularly where the wording of the Action Plan above is fairly unequivocal.

Thus although there is some evidence of contradiction from the Govt, I can't agree with the NTA that:

This seems to be a construction that has been put on the Government guidance and it is a construction that us simply not to be found within that document.

Assuming that it is the DfT letter the NTA is talking about - the Action Plan forms part of the letter.

But as we said from day one, the Govt's response was a contradictory fudge, so the NTA's construction of the think isn't totally surprising, but I disagree in particular their unequivocal statement that "it is a construction that us simply not to be found within that document".

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

The NTA said:

The National Taxi Association are concerned at the number of Local Authorities that are choosing to de-limit hackney carriage numbers throughout the country.

For many years, it has been the NTA view that the question of de-limitation is best dealt with on a local basis.

So the NTA wants decisions made locally, but is at the same time concerned that LAs are de-limiting locally, which seems to be saying that local decision making is OK if it decides what we want!

Reminds me of similar sentiments from the T&G re a de-restriction somehwere, and I've just wasted twenty minutes looking for the quote

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Come on now Cap, what exactly are you saying here?

Plate premiums seem to be highlighted when necessary, but swept under the carpet when not.

For the former, don't forget the Wirral case, or the pro-restrictions guy who told the Trans Comm that total UK plate values approached £1 billion

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

But surely if the NTA is worried about 'stakeholders' as per the press release then they would want consumers to know all the facts?

But the public are rarely given the facts re premiums and the like.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Absolutely, but the guidance is only relevant if they want to restrict.
No LA has ever been under an obligation to restrict, or to justify de-restriction.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk