This post has been transferred from the 'oopsed' & previously double posted thread;
http://taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14999
Well done Mr Waters!!
For a start, I am absolutely amazed, astonished even, that your LA's licensing enforcement officers do not work at night or at weekends.
A HC service or PH service is a 24 hour business. To enforce this view, a HCDL or PHDL does not stipulate any hours of business.
I think in order to help your cause, you should start to amass evidence.
To start with a list of all LAs nationally that perform their duties outside office hours, i.e. those that have a
DEDICATED night enforcement team, or who have the
dedication to their duty as licensing enforcement officers to arrange their working hour to accommodate night enforcement activities,
I know you are north of the border, but to start your list you should know that Birmingham & Nottingham have dedicated night enforcement activities on a regular basis.
I am sure that,
TDO members from around the country will advise you on this thread of other LAs in their area that also have regular night enforcement activities. That way you can build up a list to support your argument for your LA to introduce night enforcement of
THE LAW!!
If the majority of your local drivers are of the same opinion as you are, i.e. that licensing enforcement should be introduced for unsociable hours, then I would also suggest that you draft a suitably worded petition.
This petition should be addressed to your LA's licensing committee! You will be petitioning your licensing committee to introduce licensing enforcement activities during unsociable hours, etc.
You will need to find out the prescribed format for presenting a petition to your council & adhere to that format. By doing so, you get maximum effect & leverage.
To give you an example; in Birmingham the petition has to be addressed to Birmingham City Council Licensing Committe, must be presented by a council member, which means a councillor & is always presented at
A FULL COUNCIL MEETING. It is not presented to the licensing committee directly. The petition is then noted in the full council minutes & handed down by the full council to the licensing committee to be dealt with by them. I also believe that the licensing committee may be obliged to report back to the full council meeting in due course with the outcome or action taken in respect of the petition.
By presenting a petition to the
FULL COUNCIL MEETING, the great benefit for the petitioners is that there is always a strong local
PRESS attendance at full council meeting. And if there is substantial 'meat on the bone' of the full council meeting agenda, which is public domain material a few days before every meeting, then you might be lucky with
NATIONAL PRESS REPORTERS in attendance.
If you need any help with drafting the petition, or anything else, just email me.
You should also collect as much evidence as possible, in a variety of forms to support your cause.
Good luck Mr Waters.
And finally, remember this!!!
TAXI DRIVERS PAY TAX ON ALL THEIR EARNINGS AND NOT JUST THOSE EARNINGS THAT ARE ACQUIRED BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 9.00AM AND 5.00PM!!
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