Taxi Driver Online

Hi there !

Im a new member to this forum and would like somebody to please explain the real situation regarding deregulation of hackney plates.
I am a hackney owner/driver in the borough of Halton.

Betty

I have amended Betty's user name, but I suspect in Halton they just call her plain Bet.

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

The real situation is that de-limitation is a good thing, and it's coming to a town near you sometime in the not so far distant future.

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IDFIMH

It's simple mate - Dereg = Disaster

It's looking increasingly likely that more and more local authorities will deregulate (or more accurately, delimit).

If a council deregulates, the number of plates will rocket, drivers will lose their plate value overnight, you'll have to wait 2, 3, 4 times as long for a fare.

Dereg is of benefit to nobody. Cabbies lose out and the roads become congested as cabs queue up for ranks.

THAT is dereg, and the threat is very real. It's going to happen everywhere very soon.

Look at Wirral - DISASTER. Look at Liverpool - DISASTER (They reverted back to limiting the number of cabs, but it was too late - the damage was done)


There are only two ways forward that won't ruin the trade:

i) Don't fix it, it's not broken
ii) Adopt a policy of managed growth - perhaps 5 or 10 new plates per year dependent upon demand and size of area.

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Visit TAXIPIX at www.taxipix.fotopic.net

Apart from existing plate holders who else benefits from restricting taxi numbers?

And if it's such a disaster, then how does 65% of the English and Welsh cab trade manage to survive?

Oh and 100% of the PH trade.

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IDFIMH

Does that include a certain seaside town not a million miles from Brighton?

I don't know what you mean by real situation regarding deregulation but a licensing authority can decide its own policy on derestriction as long as it abides by certain criteria. That criteria involves a licensing authority keeping itself informed to the level of Taxi demand. On the other hand a council may wish if it pleases remove the limit on numbers or carry out a policy of what some people call managed growth, this involves an authority issuing a set amount of licenses according to what an unmet demand survey deems appropriate to satisfy any demand.

Halton seem to think they don't need a survey to carry out any of the above so perhaps they work under different acts of parliament from the rest of us.

Regards

JD

Sussex if private hire is so good ,Why are you so desperate to become a hackey owner .mr T

There are a good many acts of Parliament that have been total B****X and this appears to be one of them!
From what I can gather the only valid reason to delimit is to cover unmet demand and in Halton we certainly dont have any of that! Even the PH are belly achin that there's to many drivers and not enough work. The standard of vehicle is already high ie. non over 7 year old. So I ask the question, what is to be gained from this?????
If the council released another 10 plates and charged the goin rate of approx 12k a piece there wouldnt much interest in them anyway cos theres squillions(well over 200) of hackney's in halton already and the plates are pretty slow to sell anyhow. The only reason there is so much interest in this debate is because certain individuals seem to think they are gonna get somethin for nothin and this greed is overiding common sense on the matter.

Well let's all hope so, but all I really want is what happens in 65% of the country, including your manor.

Is that really asking too much?

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IDFIMH

Who's says I am?

The issue isn't what I or other drivers want, it's simply that drivers should be able to choose for themselves.

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IDFIMH

Who's says I am?

YOU all the time all the time you all the time mr T GIVE ME A PLATE

Maybe it might be worth you reading this thread to gauge the views of others about Halton and it's council's actions.

http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/vie ... php?t=1161

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IDFIMH

Ok Sussex thanks for that link!
Ive gauged the views of others on that post and would like to know why anyone from elsewhere in the country is interested in screwing up things here in Halton????
I would like to applaud Halton BC solicitor for that report as it explains the situation in our borough clearly ' NO UNMET DEMAND! ' Now if the council know this and the drivers know this and the public aint complaining about the service they recieve then I'm curious to know just what exactly is the problem???
Halton BC made 2 plates available not long back on the understanding that the applicants purchased brand new wheelchair compatable vehicles (approx 25K+) and they could not transfer the plate for a fixed(long) period of time. Would you like to know how much interest there was in them? Next to none! So what does this tell you? It tells me that the only intrested parties here are the 'We want something for nothin ' brigade. Their meddling is gonna end up with squillions of drivers on Sh***y wages doin two jobs because they cant afford to pay their bills!!!!

Halton BC rock!

Perhaps those persons you accuse of screwing up things in Halton only want to see Halton abide by the law and carry out the correct procedure when making their decision to restrict numbers. I have no need to inform you of the correct procedure because you have no doubt read it on here. If Halton wish to leave themselves open to legal challenge then that is of their own choosing and any fall out from their actions will be on their own head.

Halton know their obligations under the law yet choose to ignore them in the hope that they don't get an applicant with deep enough pockets to challenge their decision.

Any council who fails to measure demand then embarks on a policy of restriction such as Halton, deserve all they get.

Regards

JD