Taxi Driver Online

You almost have a point there Mr T, but in the normal course of events the survey is required by law....

Is IT???

But I think that some LAs specifically levy HC plateholders (not badge holders) for surveys, and since they are the primary beneficiaries then that seems the most equitable way of doing things, but of course some on here aren't big on equity

how can you say we are not being equal, or even that we are not big on equality. no one has been left out everybody repeat everybody pays the two pound you can't be fairer than that.

No, I think that ones been made up.

I personally think not giving people licenses because they look like Tw*ts is a valid argument for refusal.

(the 85 transport act doesnt say that either )

CC

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

I'd push for a joint badge myself and double the £2 to £25 (maths wasnt a strong point).

CC

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

At long last we actually agree

No It is not about £2 a week( which in fact is two pounds every three years) it is about the Hackney and private hire trade working with the council to provide a better service for the public, and a cost-efficient and better service from the council for the taxi and private hire trade, it is the whole picture and not just one small part,

But don't you have a fleet of vehicles?

And wouldn't the levy increase substantially if PH didn't pay?

OK, maybe it still wouldn't be a couple of pounds a week, and I did say 'or so', but if it's even less than this why not do the right thing and volunteer to pay more and leave the PH drivers alone

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

If I had my way, everything would be free, and the council would pay the drivers' wages, but we have to be practical, another thing that Mr Bolton didn't want to pay for was this <http://cmis.sefton.gov.uk/CMISWebPublic/Binary.ashx?Document=26206> I strongly get the impression that some people prefer to be at war with their council's instead of working together

I'll try to bring this stupid argument to a end, there are two sides to Sefton, North Sefton which is Southport , and south Sefton which is 20 miles away, the vast majority of private hire and Hackney are in south Sefton.. probably 200 Hackney and 1500 private hire, at the moment the licensing office is in south Sefton, so the Southport private hire and Hackney have to travel over 40 miles there and back whenever they need to visit the Licensing Office, now the trade has been working with the council to establish a new Office in Southport, it was agreed to accept a 20 pound increase in licensing fees to fund this new office which I do not need, so as you can see I and all the Hackney drivers and owners and private hire in South Sefton are paying a great deal more then £2 every three years in the interest of being fair. as I said before the bigger picture is what you need to see.....

As you well know the staffing of licensing personnel is not the issue and as far as I'm concerned it never was. The only issue that I and many others have is with one licensed entity being forced to pay over 80% of the cost of a survey which is designed solely to work against those that bear most of the cost.

If a council wants to maintain a policy which favours a minority of people over the majority then the council or those people it favours should foot the bill.

Anyone who says a hackney carriage survey benefits private hire drivers is a raving lunatic. The only people to benefit from unmet demand surveys are Hackney carriage proprietors, hackney carriage drivers and to a lesser extent large P/H radio operators.

If any authority wanted proof of the level of commitment to unmet demand surveys from the P/H sector all they have to do is put a small simple questionnaire in with the license renewal application and they will have their answer in spades.

The private hire reps in Sefton should be pushing for such a questionnaire and the three main questions in respect of licensing fees should be this.

1. Sefton council has a policy to restricting hackney carriage licenses, do you as a private hire driver wish to pay a levy or have your license contributions used for funding hackney carriage unmet demand surveys?

2. Do you as a private hire driver think the council should retain its policy of restricting hackney carriage proprietor licenses?

3. Do you think that private hire license fees should be ring fenced and not used for any other purpose than that of the administration of P/H licensing and joint staffing levels?

Now in my opinion if Sefton or any other restricted authority had any sense of decency they would try and find the answers to those questions before they pilfered licensing funds?

Five reams of A4 at 3.50 a ream is all that is needed to find the answers but as per usual when people already know the answer democracy often takes a back seat.

I will say one thing about the cost of license fees in Sefton and that they are probably one of the lowest in the country but with the private hire paying over 80% of those fees it is easy to see why? If all the private hire operators and drivers emigrated to Knowsley then Sefton would be the highest in the country

JD

Now in my opinion if Sefton or any other restricted authority had any sense of decency they would try and find the answers to those questions before they pilfered licensing funds?

So let us be quite clear about what you are actually saying, you JD through this forum taxi-driver on line are accusing Sefton mbc licensing officers and council members of stealing licensing fees.

Why should Mr Bolton or his members contribute to a survey when the onus of proving there is no unmet demand is placed firmly on the shoulders of the licensing authority?

Mr Bolton or anyone else for that matter, are quite within their rights to say there is an unmet demand if that is what they believe? He and they, also have the equal right to ask the council for a hackney carriage proprietors license and rely on the council to prove there is "no unmet demand".

What you are saying Mr Jones is that, "if he or anyone else wants to apply for a hackney carriage license then they should pay for a survey?

Your logic is very misguided my friend and it won't be lost on anyone who has a brain.

The Trevor Jones logic for anyone who is interested is that "if you want to apply for a hackney carriage license or you offer an opinion that there is an unmet demand, then you should pay for a survey.

I think Mr Jones should be reminded of the legislation because it appears he doesn't understand it.

"The grant of a taxi licence may be refused, for the purpose of limiting the number of licensed taxis if, but only if, the [local licensing authority] is satisfied that there is no significant demand for the services of hackney carriages (within the area to which the licence would apply) which is unmet".

If you understand section 16 it states the council cannot refuse a license unless they can prove there is no demand which remains unmet. It does not say that Mr Bolton or anyone else has to prove there is a demand which is unmet?

Is that quite clear?

JD