Wednesday 9th December 2009 at Newcastle Civic Centre.
A condensation of the last meeting of the Tyne and Wear Taxi and Private Hire Liaison Group 2009
Matters arising:
Anita Smith said that with reference to the Berwick plate issue, Newcastle City Council have introduced a condition requiring all Private Hire Operators to use drivers and vehicles licensed by Newcastle City Council. Alan Fidler asked if legal opinion had been obtained prior to the introduction of this condition. Ms Smith said that the Council had obtained an opinion from a barrister and this would be discussed later in the meeting.
With reference to bus lanes and no-car lanes, John Bourn said that harmonisation throughout the five District Council areas is an aspiration, but it is proving to be difficult to achieve. Alan Fidler said that we are now two and a half years down the road since he had attended a meeting with Trevor Hines at Newcastle University and nothing has progressed since then. We appear to be the victims of bureaucratic inertia at a local level. John Bourn said he understood the frustration and suggested that this issue could be raised once again with the ITA. It was agreed that it would be best to have either no-car lanes or bus/cycle/taxi lanes operating over a 24-hour period.
John Bourn asked if there had been any progress with taxis being allowed to use the bus lane on the A184 between Wardley and Heworth Metro Interchange. Trevor Hines said that there is no progress to date and as there is no member in attendance from Gateshead Council, we cannot progress with this at the moment.
With reference to the A187 bus and taxi link into the Tyne Tunnel, it appears that since work commenced on the Second Tyne Crossing Works, taxis have been excluded from using the link. A barrier is now in place which is operated by Tunnel staff, and some staff are not allowing taxis through. The original legal order allowing use of the link by buses and taxis should still be in force and it would appear to be an educational issue with Tunnel staff.
The ITA Local Transport Plan sub-group have made no progress in appointing a taxi champion. Councillor Hodson who had been a possible candidate for this position is not available at present due to ill health. It was also noted that a taxi champion cannot be appointed until the ITA have agreed to create this position.
Police Report:
P.C. Zoe Hingston accepted that there had been some inconsistent policing in Collingwood Street due to outside resources being brought into the city centre at busy weekends. She has spoken to the five shifts involved to educate all officers involved in taxi legislation. Private Hire drivers are being allowed a five minute window to pick up pre-booked fares before being moved on. Hackney Carriages are being stopped from illegally ranking and also slowly cruising along this area looking for flag downs as it is causing severe congestion. Newcastle City Council intends to prosecute persistent offenders in the future. Plans to lay down an official taxi rank in this area have attracted strong opposition from residents. Alan Fidler suggested that the parking meters in the area should be hooded between 6pm and 5am every Friday and Saturday night to alleviate the problem, but P.C. Hingston said that the residents had vetoed this suggestion. It is however the intention to lay down more taxi ranks within Newcastle City Centre. M. Suleman said that the quicker revellers are removed from the city centre the better before any incidents of disorder occur. There had been a joint police and council operation last Saturday night which involved a balanced checking of both Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles.
A Newsletter has been produced which can be accessed on both the Newcastle City Council and Northumbria Police web-sites. Any drivers or operators wishing to publish any information or article in the Newsletter should contact the Licensing Team. It is intended that the Newsletter will be published bi-monthly and posted out to forty operators.
A letter is being sent to all Private Hire Operators concerning problems at the front of The Gate, and vehicles stopping near the pedestrian crossing. The letter will request that vehicles do not pick-up or drop-off outside The Gate.
Licensing Issues:
In the recent joint exercise undertaken by Newcastle City Council and Northumbria Police 84 vehicles were checked, 35 of which were licensed by other Local Authorities. There were issues with 42 vehicles, 21 of which were from other Local Authority areas. Information on the vehicles licensed by other Local Authorities will be passed on to the relevant LA. From both the Council and Police point of view it was an excellent exercise and further operations are planned. There will be a press release in the near future with comments from both the Police and the Council.
With reference to the new conditions being applied to Operator’s Licences which require all vehicles and drivers to be licensed by Newcastle City Council, there have been no appeals received to date. A barrister instructed Newcastle City Council that it was in order to apply these new conditions which come into force on the renewal of every Operator’s licence. Apparently the new conditions have been well received by all operators and all outside plates should be off the road by June or July 2010. It would appear that Local Authorities in Tyne and Wear, Durham and Northumberland are working towards a common approach on this issue as there doesn’t appear to be any appetite for a change in national legislation.
Under the auspices of “Safe Newcastle” there is a campaign to improve the knowledge of taxi ranks and bus stops along with improved illumination of taxi ranks in the Newgate Street area.
Nexus Report:
The Nexus Secured Service Strategy for non-commercial public transport services is presently out for consultation. Nexus are trying to find a way forward, with the possible greater use of taxis to provide non-commercial services. The Link-Up service hasn’t proved to be a great success, and Alan Fidler said that the service had been criticised by the taxi trade from its inception. It appears that there is a subsidy of £11.18 for every passenger carried on the service. It was agreed that there are future opportunities for the taxi trade in providing taxibus services on non commercial routes.
LTP News:
John Bourn said that there was not a lot to report, but all relevant parties are being consulted on what they would like to be included in LTP3 for 2011. Environmental issues and sustainable travel will be promoted, but the report will be produced against a different background – having to do more with less.
A. Fidler asked if Department of Transport “Best Practice Guidance” can be taken into account when writing up the LTP.
J. Bourn said that the latest congestion figures for the Newcastle area show reduced congestion in the main sixteen corridors across Tyne & Wear down 8% since 2005. A. Fidler said that these figures prove that there is no necessity for a congestion charge in Newcastle. J. Bourn said that since the rejection of a congestion charge in Manchester it doesn’t appear very likely that a congestion charge will be introduced anywhere outside of London.
Any Other Business:
E. Binks informed the meeting that Sadiq Khan, Minister of State for Transport, had attended the recent National Taxi Association Conference in Eastbourne. In his address to delegates he gave an undertaking that the “Working Time Directive” would not apply to taxi drivers.
M. Suliman said that there are moves to introduce electric cars in Newcastle to reduce the carbon footprint. There will be six charging points installed in the city centre, one of which will be in Collingwood Street.
Meeting closed: 12.05 pm.
Next Meeting scheduled for: - Wednesday 24th March 2010 at 10.30 am.
Venue: - Newcastle Civic Centre.
Minutes taken by: - T. Hines. National Taxi Association.
