LIVERPOOL

Punters travelling to this year's Grand National face even more chaos after taxi drivers said they will strike - as well as rail workers.

Private hire drivers plan to blockade key routes out of Liverpool city centre on the day of the big race, April 8, at the same time as a planned 24-hour strike on Merseyrail trains.

Arriva Northern rail staff are also set to walk out, meaning trains from outside the city could be affected as well as those on local lines.

The private hire drivers are planning to take action because they are unhappy with changes to the council’s licensing arrangements – which they say are leaving drivers off the roads for long periods.

In the wake of child sexual exploitation scandals in Rochdale and Rotherham, Liverpool was one of many councils to change its licensing policy so temporary licences are no longer handed out while drivers are waiting for clearance from the Disclosure and Barring Service.

But the group, led by private hire driver Ryan Jones, said the delays had caused drivers serious financial problems.

Mr Jones said the protest was still scheduled to go ahead and said it will be a “double whammy” for the city because of the rail strike.

http://bit.ly/2niWL9Y
-----------------------------------------

SUNDERLAND

A political war of words has broken out after Liberal Democrats on Wearside slammed a decision to scrap taxi marshals in Sunderland city centre.

At a recent meeting of the city’s council, a budget was passed which removes funding for the service, despite warnings from some members that it would lead to a less safe environment for young revellers on weekend evenings.

Lib Dem councllors had proposed an amendment to the budget which they argued would protect the funding for taxi marshals by cutting allowances paid to councillors and the mayor - but that was rejected.

Council documents show that withdrawing the funding for the service, which was originally set up by Northumbria Police, should save £124,000 over the next two years.

The service was joint-funded but Northumbria Police has now withdrawn cash.

Council bosses argue that Coun Hodson is trying to “grab a cheap headline” and that the removal of the marshal service was delayed by a year.

They insisted that its removal is because of continued Government-imposed austerity cuts and talks are ongoing with the city’s taxi trade to find a solution.

Niall Hodson, Lib Dem councillor for Millfield and Thornholme said: “It beggars belief that Labour councillors have taken a step which makes the city centre less safe on an evening, ignoring the warnings from their own council officers and from the police.

“Sunderland’s night-time economy is key to keeping the city vibrant – but people need to feel it is safe.

“To remove the taxi marshal service without putting any alternative in place, and to reject a sensible Lib Dem proposal to keep the service running, is typical of the callousness with which Labour have approached making cuts over the past few years.”

Portfolio holder for city services on the council, Coun Michael Mordey, hit back, saying: “Once again, Coun Hodson in his attempt to grab a cheap headline is rehashing old news.

“The difficult decision to withdraw the council subsidy for the taxi marshal service was taken last year.

“It’s implementation was delayed a year to allow discussions with the taxi trade, representatives from the licensing trade and the night-time economy, Northumbria Police, and others; about those that benefit from the service, contributing towards it’s cost.

“Those discussions are still ongoing.

“I ask the people of Sunderland to bear in mind that the difficult decisions the council currently has to make about which services continue and which services are cut is as a direct consequence of the Government’s seven-year austerity agenda.

“An agenda that Councillor Hodson supported for five years, so his criticism really has no credibility with me when he and his party are partly responsible for the situation we find ourselves in.
“Funding for the marshals is available until the end of April but the council and the city’s council taxpayers can no longer afford to keep funding the service in the long-term – but hopefully the on-going talks described above will result in a solution being found.”

Conservative leader on the council Robert Oliver said: “Taxi marshals carry out a very useful service with regards to safety in the city centre and their work is valued by residents and taxi drivers alike so it is regrettable that the service is to end.
“The council will need to monitor the withdrawal of taxi marshals in case there is any adverse effect on people using taxis in the city centre and taxi drivers themselves.

“At the budget meeting, the Conservative Group listed a lot of ways in which money could be saved - such as ending the trade union subsidy - and therefore spent supporting taxi marshals.
“Alternative funding could also come from Northumbria Police as the Police and Crime Commissioner has increased the precept by 5% - double the Council Tax increase- and above inflation.”

A spokeswoman for Northumbria Police said: “We have a good relationship with street pastors in the city centre and have an effective, dedicated nighttime economy operation to help ensure the city centre remains a safe place for people to enjoy a night out.”

http://bit.ly/2nKnmxB
-------------------------------------

BIRMINGHAM

Work to improve air quality in Birmingham has taken a significant step forward after it was announced today that the city council will receive £2.9 million from the Department for Transport (DfT) to implement an electric taxi infrastructure across the city.

The Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) funding will enable the council to proceed with plans for a total of 197 charge points across the city centre and outer city areas, all of which will offer fast or rapid charging facilities for Hackney carriages and private hire vehicles.

These include two key ‘super’ charge point hubs at Tyseley Energy Park, on the main route to Birmingham Airport and the Birmingham NEC, and at Birmingham New Street Station’s Ellis Street car park, which is the main rank, pick-up and drop-off point in the city centre.

Each will have a minimum of six charge points. These will be supported by charging points at a further seven city centre locations, including Star City, Birmingham Coach Station, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Sheepcote Street, off Broad Street.
Additionally, every arterial route to the outer city area, where it links to the A4040 ring road, will benefit from a network of charge point sites which will particularly benefit private hire vehicles operating from or within Birmingham suburbs.

Birmingham’s taxi fleet currently numbers 1,229 Hackney carriages and 4,060 private hire vehicles, and the council is working towards a 50 per cent uptake of ultra-low or zero-emissions vehicles across the entire fleet by 2020.

Birmingham is one of five cities mandated by the Government to implement a Clean Air Zone in order to become compliant with air quality legislation, and this will include requiring taxis to meet Euro 6 vehicle emissions requirements.

http://bit.ly/2mWSxSR
-----------------------------------------

UBERK CANADA

The new national budget unveiled Wednesday by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government took aim at ride-sharing providers such as Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL], looking to end a tax advantage they have over traditional taxi companies.
The budget statement said Trudeau's government plans to amend Canada's Excise Tax Act to redefine ride-sharing firms as taxi companies. That would force them to collect the goods and services tax (GST) on every ride provided, just as taxi operators are required to do.
Under current law, some drivers for ride-share operators make use of a so-called small-supplier provision that exempts the first C$30,000 of sales from the tax. The amendment would end the exemption.
"It's important to have a tax system that's fair and less complex," Finance Minister Bill Morneau said when asked about the matter during a news conference on the budget. "With respect to Uber, what we've done is say there's a level playing field. If you're in an Uber or if you're in a taxi, you pay GST (goods and services tax). That's consistent with what Canadians expect, and we think it's the right approach."
Uber spokesman Matt Kallman said: "We are reviewing the budget and its implications and will have more to say in the coming days."
The budget statement estimates the change will raise C$3 million in new revenue in the 2017 budget year, rising to C$5 million in the next few years.
The change could mean higher fares for Uber customers in Canada, and would be the latest headache for the $70 billion company. It has been battered with a series of controversies over the last several weeks ranging from the sudden departure of its president to a lawsuit from Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) accusing it of stealing designs for autonomous car technology.

http://reut.rs/2npWUIY
-----------------------------------------
BATH

Bath cabbies are "hurting" at "hundreds" of drivers who come into the city and flood the market on weekends.

As well as taking their trade away, the drivers have said the additional cars are undermining the standards of the taxi industry in Bath.

Bath cabbies are "hurting" at "hundreds" of drivers who come into the city and flood the market on weekends.

As well as taking their trade away, the drivers have said the additional cars are undermining the standards of the taxi industry in Bath.

Driver Paul Roles likened local authority-licensed taxi drivers to individual small businesses and said the extra cars can be traced back to Uber's emergence in the city.

"In pre-Uber days we would see the odd car bringing someone from Bristol or North Somerset," he said.

"On a Friday or Saturday now there's hundreds of them and it's the same cars coming in every weekend.

Cashless service Uber launched in its app in Bath last June, and since then thousands of customers have used it to take a taxi. The company said Bath has been "very exciting".

One of its commitments upon arrival was that Uber would use only drivers licensed by the local authority.

The company said at the time: "All drivers using the Uber app in Bath are licensed for private hire by Bath City Council (sic) and have undergone an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check - the same process black cab drivers, teachers and care workers go through."

When asked whether this pledge has been honoured and how many drivers they have in Bath, Uber said they don't reveal their number of drivers.

But a spokeswoman explained: "On licensing, only drivers who hold a private-hire license from Bath can register on the app through our Bath operating licence.

http://bit.ly/2nXPXwr