Taxi Driver Online

Soon they will be all taxis.


Hackney carriage drivers blockade town hall

HACKNEY carriage drivers have blockaded Watford town hall in protest at a council decision to remove the limit on the number of licences it issues.

Around 50 vehicles arrived at the visitor's centre car park at about 8am this morning (Friday). Drivers were met by managing director of Watford Borough Council, Alastair Robertson, and head of licensing, Alan Gough.

The drivers representative, Shujait Sardar, said: "Our first aim is to get this decision overturned but if we can't do that there are other options we want to discuss with the council."

Mr Robertson said that he was reluctant to ask Mayor, Dorothy Thornhill, to come out and meet with the drivers while the blockade was in effect. Mayor Thornhill met with the drivers at around 12.30pm.

Mr Sardar said: "She did not say anything particularly helpful. We will now have a meeting to decide what we are going to do. "Then we will either leave or go and get our night blankets. It is still early in the protest but we might be here for weeks." A council representative said that it was still considering its official response to the drivers' actions.

At a meeting of the council's licensing committee on Monday, September 5, councillors resolved to end the limit on the number of hackney carriage licences granted. Delimitation will come into effect on Friday, October 21, subject to confirmation at the next committee meeting.

The council has said it will enter into consultation to decide on the details of the scheme. Hackney carriage driver, Roy Morris, said: "This is an unjust decision and it must be stopped." The blockade continues.

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IDFIMH

I hope those drivers aren't members of the T&G or NTA.

After all councils are best placed to decide for themselves.

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IDFIMH

i think this is one to watch.........

Can’t you feel de-restriction just breathing down your neck 187ums? Trust me, very soon you won’t be watching it you’ll be living it, little boy.

It will settle the problem they had at the station recently if all those lovely p/h become h/c roll on the day when there is just a one tier taxi licensing system

Mr Kavanagh won't be too pleased about Watford lifting numbers control. Perhaps he now realises his sermon from the mount partly fell on deaf ears?

49 councils delimited in the space of 9 months, not a bad track record for someone who told the world, "we buried the OFT report".

I wonder what he will serve up as an encore?

Regards

JD

18 March 2004.

T&G welcomes Government rejection of local taxi services delimitation.

Government plans to let councils in England and Wales regulate local taxi markets rather than allow a deregulated free for all, as proposed by the Office of Fair Trading, have been welcomed today by the Transport and General Workers Union. Jack Dromey, the T&G Deputy General Secretary, said it was good that government ministers had listened carefully to the "articulate and well informed" voice of taxi drivers.

The union, the largest trade union representing taxi drivers, led the national campaign for local regulation and managed cab growth, which included a one thousand strong lobby of parliament. It said members would take up the challenge and work constructively with local councils to ensure that safe, quality and value for money taxi services become integral parts of local transport plans."The taxi drivers and the T&G feel vindicated today," said Mr. Dromey.

"We said deregulation has not delivered for the bus industry and there was no evidence to suggest it would for local taxi services. Our members locally will now work to make sure the national campaign's "success" is translated into action."

The union confirmed its commitment to working with local councils and that it was looking forward to the challenges and opportunities this opened up. Peter Kavanagh, the T&G full time officer responsible for the taxi industry, said it was important for all taxi drivers to feel part of the campaign and to have their voice heard.

"The T&G led the campaign nationally; we will now deliver locally," he added.

Note to editors:

The OFT report, which called for deregulation, was published in October 2003. It was heavily criticised by the House of Commons Transport Select Committee in February 2004. The T&G organised a series of local protests, including slow drive-ins, on February 24th and a one thousand strong lobby of parliament on 3rd March which attracted taxi drivers from across the UK.

For further information, please call the T&G Press Office on 020 7611 2550/49

If ever there was a reason to keep well clear of the T&G and their bus leaders, then it's Watford.

The T&G made a big thing about the lads not paying to rank at the station, so the station went out and got a PH firm to work it. Big T&G mistake number 1.

Then the T&G made a big thing about the council being a pile of s*** for allowing PH to work the station, so the council are now going to de-limit. Big T&G mistake number 2.

The T&G are a crock of s***, from the top to the bottom.

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IDFIMH

LPH working from railways stations.

Now there's an idea.

Ollie

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Happy to be legit.

The situation in Watford is as follows.

On the 5th September the licensing committee decided to explore the options of delimitation. Inadvertently the option of delimitation was excluded from the report. This was then introduced by one of the council members. The committee decided that a report should be compiled by the LO for the October 20th meeting with the intent on the options of delimitation.

Watford is being legally challenged for withholding a hackney Carriage license. I understand the first hearing of that case has already taken place.

Regards

JD

So the LO just happened to miss off a major part of the DfT request.

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IDFIMH

It may not have been the LO. I think in this instance a genuine mistake may have been made and to criticise anyone at this stage may be a little harsh. In any event a decision will not be made until october.

Regards

JD

Taxi Drivers Fear For Their Livelihoods

Anxious taxi drivers are calling on Watford Council to carefully consider the consequences an influx of new taxis would have on their livelihood, if given the go-head. Fears were raised after a letter from Watford Council to the Watford taxi branch of the Transport and General Workers Union stated it would soon be reviewing whether to increase the number of hackney carriage taxis in Watford.

Chairman of the Watford branch of the union, Mr Shujait Sardar, said: 'This branch has never been opposed in principle to the issue of additional taxis, but it has always insisted that any such issue must be undertaken with caution and must be scaled so as to meet, but not exceed, genuine and significant unmet demand.

'During most days there is an hour or two where passengers are waiting for a few minutes, and during early morning or evening rush-hour traffic, or at 3am when 1,200 people come out of Destiny nightclub. 'Between those brief periods of high pressure, however, there are much longer periods when the flow of work is sluggish, the ranks overflow and drivers wait up to 90 minutes for a job. To create new taxis to soak up all demand at peaks times would be irresponsible - the result would force both new and old drivers to work still longer hours for less money.'

Mr Sardar said the lack of sufficient taxi ranks in the town centre meant drivers were unable to queue to pick up crowds left stranded in the town late at night. He added that taxi drivers were fighting off fierce competition from minicab drivers and other unlicensed drivers who were poaching their trade.

Mr Sardar said: 'A shortage of ranks for the taxis has been a problem for four years. If more ranks were introduced in some of the bus lanes, which are not in use at this time of night, people would be able to find a taxi more easily and would see there is not a shortage.'

A spokesman for Watford Council said: 'This is just a proposal, and a lot more research has to be done before a decision is made. 'On Tuesday, September 19, there is a policy and resources committee where councillors will be discussing the possibility of funding a survey on the number of taxis in Watford.

'If funding is agreed, the survey will be carried out by the end of the year, but until then there are no plans to introduce more taxis in the town. 'Plans to increase taxis ranks outside Iceland in Albert Road South have been agreed by Watford Council and this is currently in the pipeline.'

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IDFIMH

the fightback begins....