UBERK BATH

Bath and North East Somerset councillors have agreed to look again at the working practices of private hire companies such as Uber.

The decision came after the council accepted the contents of a report into the taxi company which found there were ‘no grounds to revoke licence’ .

At a previous council meeting in March, four city taxi drivers had raised concerns about how the app-based company was operating in the city.

This led to Councillor Caroline Roberts (Newbridge, Liberal Dems) proposing a review into how Uber’s licence was awarded and its impact on local private hire services.

The review found 44 allegations were made to Bath and North East Somerset Council stating that Uber were operating illegally. Of these:

35 involved insufficient evidence to begin an investigation seven were investigated and not upheld two investigations remain ongoing.

None were made by members of the public.

While bath cabbies criticised the findings of the three-month investigation, the council agreed to note the contents of the report as Uber was allowed to continue its cashless service in Bath.

However, following a Parliamentary debate on working practices in the private hire industry, an amendment proposed by the Labour Group was added to the recommendation.

This amendment means that the council has agreed to look again at issues relating to Uber and has resolved 'to remit to Licensing Committee to consider a further report on this issue in light of any new advice'.

The latest development comes after Frank Field (Labour MP for Birkenhead) expressed concerns about Uber during a House of Commons debate and suggested licences are being granted without minimum conditions being met.

He raised multiple issues, including the way in which drivers’ wages are forced down by low fares, high rates of commission, the cost of renting a vehicle that meets Uber’s strict requirements and the cost of maintaining and fuelling those vehicles.

Responding to those concerns, the Transport Minister John Hayes promised to set up a Working Party to look at the specific things raised in the debate.

He also said he would look at the guidance issued to local authorities who may be unaware of the extent of their powers and their ability to use these powers.

Cllr Joe Rayment (Labour, Twerton) said: “The problem with some of these organisations is that whilst they may appear to provide benefits to the customer in terms of convenience and conditions, there are widespread concern about questionable working practices.

“Evidence suggests that wages have been forced to the floor while the way in which these companies organise themselves means that they often do not pay their fair share of VAT, national insurance or income tax.

“In a report to council, we were essentially told that we weren’t able to consider a company’s employment practices when deciding whether to issue a Private Hire Operators Licence and that we had no power to revoke Uber’s Private Hire Operator’s Licence.

“The Government, however, has now committed to examining the working practices of the Private Hire industry and has pledged to issue new advice to local government to ensure they are using their powers.

“I’m very pleased that council agreed to support my proposal for a further report in light of this new Government commitment.

“My hope is that this new guidance will confirm that we do have the power to act in response to widespread concerns about the way in which these organisations operate, including, if appropriate, revoking licences if it we find a company is not meeting minimum conditions.”

The Labour Group’s amendment came after Cllr Roberts (Lib Dems) had tried to pass an amendment to get the council refer the report to the Licensing Committee to carry out a thorough investigation into Uber operations.

That amendment was lost, though, with 17 councillors voting in favour, 34 against and five abstentions, before all but one councillor voted in favour of Labour’s amendment.

http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/news/bath-news/council-agrees-look-again-ubers-204745

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