Ice cream, second-hand cars and taxis! By David Wilson

January 26, 2012

Blue Line Taxis (Newcastle) Ltd v Newcastle City Council on 9 and 10 January 2012.
Because there has been so much speculation and misleading information circulating about the outcome of this case……..

Read more..

BLUELINE TAXIS (NEWCASTLE) LIMITED v THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE

January 25, 2012

This case concerns an application to the Magistrates’ Court by way of

Complaint following the revocation by the Respondent local authority, of the

Appellant’s private hire operator’s licence. This took place at a regulatory committee meeting on

17 December 2010 and was placed in writing and served upon the

Appellants on the 7th January 2011. The Appellants then appealed that decision to this court by complaint dated 19 January 2011.

Read more..

Cost of fuel puts pressure on cabbies

December 9, 2011

The rising cost of petrol is presenting a major challenge to taxi operators in the UK, many of whom have been forced to increase fares just to break even, according to spokespeople from the industry. Although drivers can do their bit to drive down costs by shopping around for the cheapest pumps and getting a better deal on their….

Read more..

LIverpool & Sefton Council licensing prosecutions

January 27, 2012

Liverpool licensing-prosecutions-quarterly-stats-sept-Dec2011 FOI Sefton Annual Enforcement Statistics Jan 2011-2012  

Read more..

Enhanced CRB checks for Lincoln taxi drivers to continue

January 27, 2012

The City of Lincoln Council will continue to perform enhanced CRB checks on city taxi and private hire drivers. The announcement comes after a policy forbidding enhanced Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) was withdrawn by the Home Office this week. Introduced in March 2011, the Home Office guidance stated that only standard checks could be used as evidence when deciding whether or not an individual was ‘fit and proper’ to be granted a licence. A standard check reveals only a record of previous criminal convictions, cautions and warnings, whereas an enhanced check can give any relevant information that local police and other agencies may hold on an individual, such as whether they are prevented from working with children or vulnerable adults. The City of Lincoln Council was one of just a handful of local authorities who spoke out against the guidance, maintaining the stance that enhanced CRB checks were needed to ensure the safety of the public when using Hackney carriages and private hire vehicles.

Read more..

Hackney driver says unlimited granting of taxi licences in Ellesmere Port could put cabbies out of work

January 25, 2012

A CABBIE says drivers will be put out of business if restrictions on Hackney cabs in Ellesmere Port and Neston are lifted. Last week Cheshire West and Chester Council launched a questionnaire asking drivers and members of the public to respond to questions with a view to making taxi rules in the borough more uniform. Robin Miller, a hackney cab driver from Ellesmere Port, insists getting rid of the limit on the number of hackney cabs able to ply their trade in Ellesmere Port and Neston will spread the same amount of trade over more drivers.

Read more..

Taxi drivers welcome new limit on black cab licences in Wirral

January 24, 2012

WIRRAL taxi drivers have welcomed a new curb on the number of black cab licences handed out in the borough. Councillors agreed on Monday to limit the number of licences to 289 – currently there are 286 licences “attached to a vehicle” – meaning they are in use by hackney cabs. Drivers had urged members of the licensing, health and safety and general purposes committee to set the limit, arguing it would safeguard their livelihoods and stabilise the trade in challenging economic times. Derek Cummins of the Unite union said many newcomers had signed up to £30,000 finance deals for their vehicle then found it impossible to make a living in a saturated market. The decision follows the results of independent report commissioned by the council, which concluded there were enough hackneys to meet demand

Read more..

Paisley taxi drivers thank council bosses for listening to their concerns

January 23, 2012

TAXI drivers are celebrating after council chiefs performed a U-turn over rules which would have meant cabbies having to change their cars every five years. Renfrewshire Council had planned to force private hire drivers to change their vehicles every five years in a bid to ensure that cabs were in good shape as they toured the streets. However, following an outcry from fuming drivers, the age limit for cabs has now been extended to seven years.

Read more..

Taxis to be allowed to use Watford’s bus lanes

January 23, 2012

A bus lane yesterday Taxi drivers will be able to drive in certain bus lanes around Watford after councillors voted through proposals to grant them privilege. Hackney carriages, taxis with the Watford Borough Council crest on the side, will be allowed to drive in bus-only areas in the  High Street, Station Road and St Albans Road , in the coming months. Taxi drivers welcomed the move saying it will save money for customers by avoiding traffic queues and also free up drivers to do more jobs. The borough’s cross-party Highways Joint Members Panel okayed the move on Thursday.

Read more..

More taxis mean more traffic

January 23, 2012

“There’s something for everyone,” exulted New York City taxi czar David Yassky over the December agreement between Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Michael Bloomberg to expand taxi service . The disabled get 2,000 new wheelchair-accessible yellow cabs, up from around 250 at present. Outer-borough residents get the right to hail non-yellow “livery” cabs instead of having to phone for them. And the city gets a billion-dollar “one shot” from auctioning medallions for the new yellow cabs. Oh, and all New Yorkers get something they need like a hole in the head: a permanent jolt of new gridlock from the extra taxi traffic.

Read more..

The Casey Column February 2012

January 21, 2012

The Casey Column By Wayne Casey (LL SC) The views expressed in this column have very little to do with the National Taxi Association To follow me on twatter Tweet….UK_NTA The curse of Oliver Cromwell I do my best to stay out of the politics of the London cab trade, there are so many trade bodies the only one seemingly missing is the Judean People’s Front (splitters!). But sometimes it becomes impossible not to say anything. Last year for example, I had a little pop at London’s private hire representatives, they told the transport select committee a load of cr*p about how good the London system of licensing was and how there had never been anyone caught illegally doing anything. But I digress. When I first started writing for taxitalk, me and the editor had a brief discussion about Oliver Cromwell (a fascinating conversation obviously).

Read more..

← Previous Entries

ChronicleLive - News - Breaking News
Manchester Evening News - RSS Feed
Liverpool Echo - Home