LIVERPOOL 

Rule-breaking taxi and private hire drivers have been ordered to pay out thousands of pounds over the past month.

Liverpool City Council is continuing its tough stance on drivers who break the law - with more than £3,000 in fines paid out in the last month alone.

The council has taken action against six drivers for a number of offences including driving without insurance and driving without a licence.

Five of the drivers taken to court were from Liverpool, while one was registered in St Helens .

 The council and its partners - including Merseyside Police - are taking part in an ongoing campaign to make sure that drivers in the city abide by the rules. And the message is - there can be no excuses.

Chair of Liverpool City Council’s Licensing Committee, Cllr Christine Banks, said: “Our priority is the safety of people in our city, which is why we take any incident of taxi drivers breaking the rules extremely seriously.”

Collectively, the offending drivers were ordered to pay £2,360 in fines, £840 in costs and £184 in victim surcharges.

Cllr Banks added: “The vast majority of taxi and private hire drivers in our city do a great job and abide by the rules. Our officers are working hard to target those who don’t. If you break the law, you will get caught.”

Yesterday we reported how one private hire driver who illegally picked up two undercover officers during a joint police and council operation was ordered to pay more than £500 by a court.

 Driver Jefferey Anthony Fleming of Ash Road, Litherland , was caught as part of Operation Inman, which detects private hire cars who pick up passengers without a prior booking.

Last year, a Liverpool ECHO investigation found that scores of private hire drivers were illegally plying for hire in the city centre.

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BLACKBURN

ENGLISH language tests could be introduced for prospective taxi drivers.

Fears were raised safeguarding awareness training for taxi drivers in Blackburn with Darwen could have fallen on deaf ears due to the language barrier.

That was the view of Cllr Roy Davies, Lib Dem member for Sudell, who voiced concerns many taxi drivers working in the borough may not have properly understood the training.

Licensing officers have been working with the safeguarding team to deliver the training to the majority of the borough's taxi drivers.

But Cllr Davies expressed concern some drivers’ English was not up to scratch, meaning they would not understand the training.

He said: “As far as the training everyone has to go through – are we 100 per cent certain the drivers do actually understand in terms of the language?

“They could just be sat there nodding and not actually understand the course itself.

“When we have drivers attending the committee, quite a few bring someone to speak on their behalf because they just don’t understand.

“I am worried that some of the drivers don’t understand the training and what they are agreeing to.”

Committee chair, Cllr John Wright, said: “Many drivers can’t put themselves across as well as they should do in a committee meeting.If it is the view of the new committee after elections in May that they want to review the criteria drivers have to fulfil and want to introduce a language test in there, you can put that out to consultation.”

Committee members heard taxi drivers had to take a written test in English at the end of the training and that it was not just a case of multiple choice.

The meeting at Blackburn Town Hall was told about 900 drivers had undergone the training and if any of them did not understand it, it was their responsibility to flag it up with officers.

The last training session was held in January and there are just a small number of taxi drivers in the borough yet to complete the course.

Members heard if the stragglers did not complete the training soon they would be in danger of having their licence revoked.

Many areas have introduced safeguarding awareness training after a number of cases of child sexual exploitation involving taxi drivers across the country.

In order to hold a Blackburn with Darwen private hire licence, drivers are expected to have reasonably good communication skills and must have held a full UK/EU driving licence for at least a year.

They must also pass a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check, undertake a practical driving test, undertake a driver training course and pass a knowledge test.

Drivers are required to have knowledge of the licence conditions attached to the appropriate driver and vehicle licences.

And they must obtain a certificate of medical fitness from a GP once they have passed the knowledge test, undertaken the driver training course and undertaken the relevant assessments.

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 The City of Edinburgh has a large fleet of taxis and private hire vehicles which some might say contribute to the air pollution problems and in and around the capital city.

The main focus of new licensing criteria in the Scottish capital centres around the appropriate tailpipe emissions for the age of the vehicle and the maximum age of vehicles allowed to operate within the city.

According to Autogas Limited black taxis running on LPG as part of the cities taxi fleet can meet this criteria and would contribute greatly to meeting the targets of Scotland’s Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs).


Current proposals in Edinburgh suggest that the maximum age limit for all taxis before they are decommissioned will be set at around 8 to 10 years for all Diesel, Petrol & LPG Taxis regardless of their tailpipe emissions. These proposals would contrast with the action of Transport for London (TfL) who have extended the life of vehicles converted to LPG to run for a further 5 years, meaning drivers can operate the Taxis until they are 20 years old and limits their initial investment considerably.

Without the incentive of a life extension for LPG repowering on Taxis in Edinburgh the solution is left out of reach for many drivers therefore leaving them with very few affordable sustainable options.

The LPG Taxi contributes greatly to improving air quality as independent emissions testing showed that an LPG taxi will emit 99% less Particulate Matter and 80% less NOx, as well as 7% less CO2 (Carbon Dioxide). Black Taxis converted to LPG will meet Euro 6 vehicle standards meaning that all taxis will meet the current strict emission rulings despite their age.

Further benefits include a low initial investment (in comparison to the current electric alternatives and their required infrastructure) as taxis drivers can keep their existing vehicle, lower maintenance costs compared the diesel, and also a substantial 20-30% lower fuel costs.

A transition from diesel to LPG is made easier by the robust existing refuelling infrastructure (5 sites supply Autogas within the city of Edinburgh). This coupled with the 300 – 400 mile driving range mean the routine drivers are used to is likely to remain the same and won’t disrupt their working day.

As a prime working example LPG taxis now running in Birmingham as part of a NOx Reduction project has seen feedback from both customers and drivers reporting that the overall journey experience is dramatically improved.
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