Worcester

TAXI drivers in Worcester could be offered incentives to encourage more of them to swap their gas-guzzling cabs for super-green ‘eco’ cars.

The move is a bid to tackle the pollution coming from Worcester’s fleet of taxis, which has trebled to nearly 300 over the last decade.
Councillor Jabba Riaz, vice-chairman of the city council’s licensing committee, says the move would make the Foregate Street area more desirable for shoppers and help the planet.

One Worcester driver, Zamir Hussain, has already swapped his old hackney carriage for an ‘eco’ electric car by Toyota. The incentive idea is in its very early stages, but could see licensing fees, which are set at £399 for new drivers or £340 for renewals, change to encourage eco cars.

 
Coun Riaz’s idea has already won the support of the chairman of the licensing committee, Coun Paul Denham.
Coun Riaz said: “The idea that taxi drivers could be using ‘eco’ cars is an excellent initiative – I’ll be sitting down with licensing officers to see if we can start offering incentives.
“There are plenty of complaints about taxi fumes and if we can bring a policy into place it would be a real step in the right direction.

“It would help the city’s pollution a lot but it would also help the drivers themselves as they pay virtually no road tax for these vehicles.”
 
Talks are expected to take place in the coming weeks over how the incentive might work. One issue is making sure drivers who purchase electric vehicles can serve the disabled, as the authority currently limits the number of saloon cars, which are not wheelchair friendly.

Coun Denham, who is also the deputy Mayor of Worcester, said: “I would absolutely support such a scheme, it would be a real step forward if we can encourage more taxis to do that.
“It’s not just the number of taxis people are concerned about, but the exhaust fumes from them.”

Electric cars are slowly gaining momentum across the country, some of which are hybrid vehicles and have small fuel tanks, and others which run off charging points.

Mohammed Ali, of Worcester Taxi Drivers Association, said: “This is a good idea and we’d like to see it in place.”
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Luton

The owner and a driver of an illegal taxi firm have been fined, and had its earnings confiscated, after running mini-buses without a licence or insurance.

Martin Perkes, 54, of Haynes West End was sentenced at Luton Crown Court on September 27 after pleading guilty to three consumer protection offences. He was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay back £16,391.57 he made illegally over a nine month period while running 'Martin’s Minibuses' with no licences, no authorised drivers or vehicle insurance. He was also told to pay the council’s costs of £1,800.

The investigation carried out by Central Bedfordshire Council's Trading Standards and Financial Investigation teams began after other local taxi companies raised concerns. The team found that Perkes was hiring friends to drive his taxis, despite knowing they were not licensed or insured. The company advertised for specialist airport and function services and had several private contracts.

Undercover officers from the council booked a taxi to take them to Luton Airport, where they gained intelligence about the company for their investigation.

Officers later, with the help of Bedfordshire Police, stopped one of Perkes’ drivers and Perkes himself and arrested him. A full search of his home was carried out under court warrant to seize computer equipment and business records.

The driver who was stopped, Keith Barber, 68, of Victoria Road, Shefford, pleaded guilty to driving without a private hire licence and driving without insurance. He received six penalty points on his licence and a financial penalty of £523.

In conjunction with the criminal case, the council’s Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) probed Perkes’ financial affairs to establish exactly how much money he had made whilst trading illegally.

Judge Bridge ordered a confiscation order, which was agreed to be the benefit obtained as a result of the criminal activity.

Cllr Brian Spurr, executive member for sustainable communities, said: "This was a complex and detailed investigation which has ultimately resulted in illegal taxis being taken off our roads. As well as sending a clear message that we will track down and prosecute rogue operators, I hope that this case will alert the public to the importance of only using taxis that are properly licensed and drivers that are authorised and insured. Anyone who gets into an unregistered taxi or who takes out a contract without checking a company’s credentials is putting their safety or the safety of others at risk. If you have any concerns at all, our Trading Standards team can help."
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Hailo, the mobile app-based taxi network, is planning to raise at least £10,000 from 1 to 10 October for the Rainbow Trust to help fund taxi transport for seriously ill children to get to hospital.

The London-based campaign was the idea of some of the 13,000 taxi drivers who work with Hailo via the app.

Users are invited to down load the Hailo app, register and enter the 'RAINBOW' discount code. The next time they use a Hailo taxi they will receive a £2 discount on their journey and Hailo will make a donation to the Rainbow Trust.

- See more at: http://www.fundraising.co.uk/news/2013/10/03/hailo-taxi-app-aims-raise-%C2%A310000-10-days-children039s-charity#sthash.02C7IgkE.dpuf

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