In December 2007 the Scottish Government issued its Best Practice Guide for councils in respect of taxi licensing:-
Section 8 stated:
Licensing requirements which are unduly stringent will tend unreasonably to restrict the supply of taxi and PHC services, by putting up the cost of operation or otherwise restricting entry to the trade.
Local licensing authorities should recognise that too stringent an approach may not be in the public interest - and could, indeed, have safety implications.
Section 9 added:
For example, it is clearly important that somebody using a taxi or PHC to go home alone late at night should be confident that the driver does not have a serious criminal record and that the vehicle is safe. But on the other hand,
if the supply of taxis or PHCs has been unduly constrained by onerous licensing conditions,, ....
..... then that person's safety might be put at risk by having to wait on late-night streets for a taxi or PHC to arrive;
he or she might even be tempted to enter an unlicensed vehicle with an unlicensed driver illegally plying for hire.
City of Edinburgh Council ignored this best practice Guide, and continued its policy to restrict taxis. Council Solicitor Robert Millar was a member of the working party which compiled the Best Practice criteria. He knew about them - both when the council raitified its policy to restrict in November 2007 and later when the council was refusing licence applications.
Sexual assault #1
In August 2008 a 26-year-old woman suffered a serious sexual assault after being picked up in the city centre by a possible bogus private hire car driver. The victim had left the Hudson Hotel in Hope Street at the west end at around 2.15am on Sunday August 17 and got into the dark-coloured saloon. She was driven from there to Brunstane Road South, where the man is believed to have assaulted her within the vehicle. The suspect in that particular incident was described as black, 35 to 40 years old, medium build, with black short hair and a round face.
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Jim/My%20Documents/EdinburgRapes.htm
This incident reflects the specific circumstances warned about, indeed "predicted", in the Best Practice Guide - he or she might even be tempted to enter an unlicensed vehicle with an unlicensed driver illegally plying for hire (Section 9).
This is precisely what happened.
Yet, Edinburgh's Council deliberately ignored the Scottish Government's warning. This female was sexually attacked in the precise circumstances warned about in section 9 of the Best Practice Guide.
Sexual Assault #2
In February 2009 t
he same thing happened again. Once again a female was sexually attacked in the precise circumstances warned about in section 9 of the Best Practice Guide.
http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh/Woma ... 6171988.jp
This time the perpetrator was apprehended and brought to justice.
Trial Judge Lady Smith said,
"What she needed was a taxi to uplift her and take her safely back to the hostel where she was staying".
For the
SECOND time,
Edinburgh's Council has deliberately ignored the Scottish Government's warning and stoically maintains its policy of artificially restricting the supply of taxis.
City of Edinburgh Council does this to
prop up its own transport interests, as well as
the BLACKMARKET in taxi licence plates to protect vested interests,
which compromises public safety.
Conclusion
No council can be deemed to be protecting public safety unless and until it has done everything possible to protect the public's safety. Artificially restricting the supply of taxis, making it more difficult than necessary to engage one, falls well below this simple benchmark.
City of Edinburgh Council, in its failure to protect the public in these cases because of its failure to adopt and enact the Scottish Government's Best Practice Guide,
is directly responsible and culpable for what
befell these two vulnerable females.
City of Edinburgh Council should be held accountable NOW!
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