All taxis across Shropshire will have to be wheelchair accessible by 2021.

The taxis - hackney carriages - have to conform with the access or the owners re-licence their vehicles as private hire vehicles.

Councillors voted through the changes at a meeting of Shropshire Council on Thursday.

Councillor Robert Macey said that if existing taxi proprietors upgrade their vehicles, the number of wheelchair accessible vehicle would increase. The owners now had two years to make the transition, he said.

Customers will also be able to hail taxis to take them across the whole of Shropshire from 2021 after councillors voted to remove the five existing hackney carriage zones.

Councillor Macey said the zones were an almost 10-year old legacy from pre-unitary days and said there should be a single taxi regime across the whole of Shropshire.

"The increase in ‘cross-border hiring’ ,brought about by the Deregulation Act 2015, has increased the risk to public safety and adversely impacted on the available business for taxi proprietors.

"Removal of the zones will put taxi proprietors in a better position to retain business as they will be able to pick up passengers throughout Shropshire without the need for pre-bookings; this increases passenger choice."

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OLA UK

 A ride-hailing app which advised UK women "to use their own prudence in offering or accepting a ride" has been described as "disturbing" by the chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee.

Veteran MP Frank Field also called for reform of the licensing system for ride-hailing, after two councils which licensed the app disclaimed responsibility, saying they did not check terms and conditions.

Ola, an Indian taxi-hailing giant which staged a high-profile UK launch in August, included the warning to women in a set of terms and conditions on its UK website.

The same terms and conditions also advised women passengers "to share the ride details with family, friends, relatives".

After being alerted to the presence of the clauses, Ola changed the text of its terms and conditions, blaming a "technical error".

An Ola spokesperson told Sky News the text was accidentally copied and pasted from a separate set of terms and conditions, which applied "to a specific car-pool service that was previously offered only in India".

The firm stressed that the warning to women had never been part of its official UK terms and conditions, and that they were "not in any of our current global T&Cs".

However, their inclusion has raised questions about the licensing process for ride-hailing services, which vets apps such as Ola to ensure they are safe and suitable for use by the public.

Ola offers ride-hailing services in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and South Wales, so it must seek approval from the local councils in these areas.

Two of the councils involved, Cardiff City Council and Bristol Council, told Sky News it did not check terms and conditions - which lay out the rules for what is permitted on apps - as part of its vetting process.

"Terms and conditions that are entered into as part of signing up for the app are not part of the application process," said a spokesperson for Cardiff City Council, which granted Ola a five-year license on 22 May 2018.

"The Council do have an overarching requirement to assess whether the applicant satisfies the 'fitness and propriety test' and the Council are satisfied Ola fulfil this requirement."

Bristol City Council, which granted Ola a five-year licence in September 2018, confirmed it had not checked Ola's app.

"As the licensing authority, we are responsible for licensing the company but not a related app,” a spokesperson told Sky News. "The content of this is controlled by the operator."

Neither council said it would be taking action against Ola as a result of its "accident".

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A consultation has been launched for residents in the Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury districts ahead of the borough council merger in May.

The creation of the new West Suffolk Council has made it necessary to align the two current licensing districts.

The cost of a running mile was aligned for each district in June without increasing the overall fare.

Alignment in June also introduced 12am as the crossover time from tariff one to tariff two for both authorities – the time was previously 11pm in St Edmundsbury.

This has now been reconsidered with a proposed change back to 11pm for both authorities.

Lance Stanbury and Susan Glossop, cabinet members for planning and growth at Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury councils, said: “The level of increase mainly depends on the time and distance of the journey. We carefully weighed the deterrent a fare increase may have on making a journey with the disincentive to drivers to make longer journeys.”

The council says the fares rise, planned to come into effect from January 8, would be the first increase for St Edmundsbury drivers since 2015, and the first for Forest Heath cabbies since 2014.

Mr Stanbury and Mrs Glossop added: “West Suffolk is predominantly rural so many trips are above the Department for Transport national average of two-five miles.

“A 10-mile journey on tariff three currently costs £39.73 in Forest Heath and £40.49 in St Edmundsbury but in the newly formed West Suffolk Council from May 2019 the charge anywhere in the district will be £41.74.

“We want to see better business for all, and our role in regulating fares is to protect the public interest as well as allowing taxi companies reasonable inflationary increases.

“We have worked closely with the trade to understand how we can together make life easier for the customer and the driver. We think this is a good recommendation and we invite the public to give us their comments.”

Consultation is open until Friday, December 21. Residents can visit 

www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/consultation to submit comments online, email licensing@westsuffolk.gov.uk 

or write to West Suffolk Licensing Team, West Suffolk House, Western Way, Bury St Edmunds IP33 3YU.

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