NHS Staff have a Happy UBERK Xmas

Getting to and from work can be awkward enough for NHS staff working shifts.

But it gets even harder over the Christmas period when taxi availability goes up and down.

Now Uber have stepped up to help health workers during this festive period by offering free rides to staff.

Any NHS worker will be able to claim two free rides between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.

The offer entitles staff members to two £10 vouchers which can be used over the festive period.
How NHS staff can claim free Xmas Uber rides

1. Enter your NHS email address in this form by clicking here - you’ll then get an email by December 21 with your codes.

2. Download and open the Uber app.

3. Tap the menu in the top left and select ‘Payment’, select ‘Add Promo Code’ at the bottom and enter the code.

4. The code for 2 x £10 trips can be used between December 24 and December 26.

Jamie Heywood, Uber’s general manager for Northern and Eastern Europe, said: “NHS staff will have enough to worry about this Christmas, so we’d like to at least try to take care of their travel.

https://goo.gl/6cKKoN
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 NEW YORK

Three taxi owners and five other professional drivers have died by suicide over the last year. It has prompted a flurry of legislation to improve working conditions for drivers.

Lal Singh, a taxi medallion owner, at a vigil at Flushing Meadows Corona Park for Roy Kim, a fellow medallion owner who committed suicide last month.CreditKholood Eid for The New York Times

Lal Singh, a taxi medallion owner, at a vigil at Flushing Meadows Corona Park for Roy Kim, a fellow medallion owner who committed suicide last month.

A taxi driver named Roy Kim recently became the eighth professional driver to die by suicide in New York over the last year.

The city’s taxi commissioner, Meera Joshi, has characterized the deaths as an epidemic. The stories have drawn attention to the economic despair in the industry and prompted the City Council to weigh new legislation to help taxi owners reduce their debt and to increase driver wages.

Each case is different and it is difficult to know why someone decides to take their life. Most of the drivers were immigrants in their 50s and 60s, some of whom had told friends and family that they were having a difficult time making a living as Uber began to dominate the ride-hailing industry.

Three of the drivers owned a taxi medallion — the aluminum plate required to drive a cab in New York that once sold for more than $1 million. It is now worth as little as $200,000.
https://goo.gl/15wNds
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 DERBY

A taxi driver who was viciously attacked on the job in a city centre is fighting for his life in hospital.

Faisal Raja, who had only been a taxi driver for two months, had finished his shift with PJ Cars when he suffered serious head injuries in a brutal assault.

The 37-year-old is expecting his first child with his wife, who asked not to be named.

Derby Telegraph says spent his 37th birthday, on December 1, in a coma - but the family bought balloons and cake for the nurses caring for him.

Police have made three arrests after an appeal went out to find six men who were seen on CCTV in connection with the incident.

Mr Raja's brother-in-law, who also does not wish to be named, has told of the family's trauma after the incident which has left the taxi driver in a critical condition.

He said: "My 31-year-old sister is due to give birth in six weeks. She is in such a traumatic state. She is at the hospital constantly and her weight is plummeting."

The brother-in-law said his sister had been talking to her husband on the phone only five minutes before the incident. Later, doctors at Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham, told her that her husband might not make it.

He said: "Doctors have told us that he could be a different person when he comes back. If he pulls through they do not know what the long term problems will be. He might not be able to work again.

"My sister talks to him and has put pictures up in the room for when he wakes up. But there is no movement or anything.


"She’s (his sister) got this fear about being a single parent and how life is going to turn out now. Whenever she gets a phone call she has a fear for the worst.

"We are a very close knit family. We're trying to support her as much as we can as she is in a very vulnerable place."

In a statement, a spokesman for Derbyshire Police said: "At around 5.05am on Sunday, November 25, officers were called the The Morledge in Derby city centre to reports that a man was injured.

"On arrival a man was found with a head injury and was taken to hospital where he remains in a critical condition.

"Last week we circulated CCTV footage of six men who we were keen to speak to in connection with the incident. Since then three men have been arrested and released on police bail in connection with an attempted murder investigation.

https://goo.gl/wjLtpN
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Sheffield passengers should find it easier to hail a cab after the council agreed to extend taxi ranks in the city.

Taxi companies had asked for new ranks at 17 locations in the city centre and suburbs but the council said they could shortlist five places.

Officers have agreed to open a rank at Division Street, outside Yates bar, for three taxis  operating from 7pm – 3am.

An existing rank on Ecclesall Road, outside the Porter Brook pub, will be lengthened to include two extra taxis and will operate from 6:30pm – 2:30am.

And the existing Western Bank rank between Brook Hill and Clarkson Street will be lengthened so an extra six taxis can park there from 11pm – 4am. This will increase capacity to 11 taxis.

Officers refused to extend two ranks on Leadmill Road and West Street following complaints from local businesses.

John Priestley, senior transport planner, says in a report: “The situation will be improved for pedestrians seeking to catch taxis at night as there will be more and larger official ranks which people can go to with a reasonable chance of a taxi being available.”

https://goo.gl/n6qxys 
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 LEEDS

Hundreds of applications made in the last five years for taxi driver licences have been made by people with criminal records for sex offences, violent crime and drug-related offences.

Information from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) obtained using a Freedom of Information request shows that more than one in seven applications for a taxi/private hire licence was from an individual with a previous criminal conviction.

According to the figures, 10,402 checks were made against applications for taxi or private hire licences related to Leeds City Council between April 2013 and March 2018. Of these, 1,656 showed previous criminal convictions – almost 16 per cent.

These included 43 applications which showed previous sexual offences, 490 convictions for violent offences and 178 for drug-related crimes.

Leeds City Council said all its drivers in the city are subject to enhanced checks and regulations, while the head of the drivers’ industry body in Leeds says that those with serious criminal convictions would not be welcome driving taxis.

Ghulam Nabi, the head of the Eurocabs Hackney Carriage Association said: “We don’t want people with serious convictions working, especially where you are dealing with the public and you have to pick up vulnerable passengers – they have to get home in a safe manner.

“Leeds City Council have a rehabilitation period where if someone has been convicted of a minor crime, there can be a rehabilitation period afterwards depending on the offence.

“But if people have got serious convictions, we don’t want them driving taxis. We want the public’s trust, and we want them to feel safe when they are travelling with us.”

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: “Our primary concern is always the safety of taxi and private hire passengers travelling in Leeds. We have clear and robust policies for granting taxi and private hire licences, recognised nationally as an example of best practice. These are publicly available on the council website.

“As our licensing annual report makes clear, particular attention is paid to ensuring all licence holders are ‘fit and proper’ to hold a licence within the Leeds Licensing District.”

Leeds city Council said all applicants undertake an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check for the existence and content of any criminal record.

“Applicants must also pass an English comprehension test, a Hackney carriage and/or private hire knowledge test, disability awareness, safeguarding training and a customer care course to ensure they are able to communicate effectively with their customers, have a working knowledge of the law surrounding their trade and are familiar with the Leeds district.”

‘Safeguarding is at the heart of what we do’

The Disclosure and Barring Service said it works to ensure people are kept safe.

A spokesperson said: “The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) works to protect vulnerable groups in society, including children.

“Safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do at the DBS and we play a vital role in keeping people safe. Since our foundation five years ago, we have issued more than 22m disclosure certificates to help employers make safer recruitment decisions.

“Ultimately whatever a DBS check reveals the decision to employ someone rests with the employer, they must carry out their own assessment as to someone’s suitability to a particular role.”

According to the council’s taxi and private hire licensing policy, “category one” offences, such as murder, grievous bodily harm and sex offences, the council would almost certainly refuse a licence if the application was made within 10 years of the conviction. The policy says only in the most exceptional of circumstances would the granting of a licence would be considered for any of these types of convictions.

It said: “The minimum period of time to have elapsed would generally be 10 years from the date of conviction, final release or the end date of a suspended prison sentence. This would normally be the minimum period and there may be circumstances where the council would continue to resist an application.”

https://goo.gl/nSu8s7

Comment: Ghulam Nabi, mentioned in this article iks a very effective Rep in Leeds.

He is an intelligent Guy who shares his intelligence around the Country,
many of the West Yorkshire stories I have posted over the years, have originated from him.

Happy New Year Ghulam !