Taxi Driver Online

Considering I haven't so far come across any real council justification for retaining numbers control, as defined in the Government guidance letter which was sent out to all restricted authorities in June 2004. I have made a draft letter for anyone who wishes to contact theirs or any other council which you believe has not reasonably justified their policy.

Responses can be placed in this thread as i'm sure some might be highly entertaining. I suspect a common theme running through the responses will be the excuse that a survey showed no unmet demand therefore we restricted numbers.

I have already highlighted that a survey of unmet demand is not what the Government require of authorities when justifying their policy. This was firmly stated in the June 2005 letter sent out by the new head of Taxi and private hire division at the DfT.

Councillors email addresses along with the relevant committee they sit on can be accessed on every council website.

Dear Councillor,

In June 2004 Rupert Cope wrote to all licensing authorities that restrict hackney carriage numbers to request them to reconsider their policy in the light of the Government response to the OFT report on Taxi and Private hire vehicles. The Government produced an action plan which it expects all restricted authorities to comply.

Rupert Cope wrote in his letter of June 2004,

"The Action Plan makes clear that the Government believes restrictions should only be retained where there is shown to be a clear benefit for the consumer, and that councils should publicly justify their reasons for the retention of restrictions and how decisions on numbers have been reached. Thus, the Government considers that, unless a specific case can be made, it is not in the interests of consumers for market entry to be refused to those who meet the application criteria".

Considering that the Government specifically requested all those councils who restrict hackney carriage numbers to publicly justify their quantity control policy I would like to know, "what clear consumer benefit is derived" by this council restricting Hackney carriage numbers?

Justification sought through an unmet demand survey is not what the Government had in mind when it issued its guidance, all an unmet demand survey tries to accomplish is a snapshot of demand at a certain period in time. That is not what the Government meant when they asked restricted councils to "justify their policy" of Quantity control.

Can you please inform me as to "why you think there is a clear consumer benefit" in restricting hackney carriage numbers and why your policy of restriction does not discriminate against wheelchair bound passengers?

Regards


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Can't wait to see Rotherham's.

http://www.rotherhamtoday.co.uk/ViewArt ... id=1115874

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IDFIMH

I think they have already made their justification clear according to this council spokesman. lol

A council spokesman said: "We have decided to increase the number of licences by four only to avoid flooding the market".

Regards

JD

JD,

I will send your request to the 55 councils that have decided to keep taxi number restrictions.

I await their replies, which will be posted below as and when.

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

Sounds reasonable to me.

Regards

JD

Well in Liverpool it does discriminate against weelchair bound passengers They are clearly paying a lot more for a Taxi ride because of restricted hackney numbers . They dont even have a choice of useing private hire . Could this be used to make Liverpool rethink its retriction policy Streetcar.

What is the difference in fares between restricted and unrestricted areas?

Examples please, thanks

There's no point comparing fares directly, I mean it's all to do with profitability, and clearly comparing a rural area (with lots of dead mileage) with an urban area like Edinburgh (with less, presumably) tells us nothing.

The point is that if you have plate premiums at £40k then the public are clearly paying in some way, as are drivers paying inflated rentals.

The point was made clear by Halcrow in its recent Nottingham survey, and as Jimbo told us, they have real professors and the like.

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

I give up, whats the answer?

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In Liverpool a plate costs 50.000 the fairs are set by the council and fleet owners . The fairs are set so people can make a reasonabe living and excess profits to pay for an idle parasite fleet owner to do nothing , or to service a 50.000 pound loan. Or a plate would not be worth 50.000 pounds . a 7 mile fair in liverpool in a 2000 pound fairway costs 14 pounds a 7mile fair in a 20000 pound P H merk costs 8 pounds . sirius are you telling me wheelchair passengers are not getting screwed . Streetcar

So what you are saying that Surveys do carry some weight?

YES.

Link to Liverpool CC website


Taxis


The Licensing Service has a responsibility to ensure that drivers, proprietors and operators of hackney carriage and private hire vehicles are fit and proper persons to hold such licenses.

All hackney carriage vehicles are wheel chair friendly and the drivers have a legal obligation to facilitate the wheelchair user.

Private hire vehicles are not covered by the same legislation and it would be advisable to check that a suitable vehicle is available to accommodate the wheel chair user at the time of your booking.


Under legislation the Council is empowered to make Conditions to ensure the safety and comfort of the general public. The Conditions are set in conjunction with statutory requirements laid down by the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976. The Private Hire trade is therefore regulated by these provisions.


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The hackneys are all wheelchair friendly, does not mention the ph mercs you mention, but I cant comment on somewhere else and the policy they adopt, in my opinion thats up to the people who live there and the council they elected to manage their City, they will know what works best for them.

Of course they do, but I wish they didn't because they are flawed as flawed can be.

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IDFIMH

The surveys are not flawed, they just do not give the answer you want to see.

Lincoln Hackneys are 100% wheelchair accessible (since 1994).

Some PH firms operate accessible vehicles (doblo) and charge DOUBLE fare to wheelchair users. rip off the vulnerable eh? So what will they do when they get their hack plate, and have to stick to "fair" fares?