YORK

Councillors wanted to quiz officials over two important taxi issues at a meeting this month.

But council officers have cancelled that meeting – against the express wishes of its chairman and elected members.

The decision has left the chair “very frustrated and disappointed”.

And coming soon after the major row over perceived council officer interference in the running of another committee, Cllr Sam Lisle said:

It obviously invites the question, who’s really running this authority?

“The meeting has been cancelled by officers despite councillors explicitly saying they didn’t want it to be cancelled,” Cllr Lisle told YorkMix. He wanted the meeting to ask officers about the latest legal position on Uber. The global taxi app firm lost its licence to operate in York in December 2017.

And last month, York Private Hire Association obtained legal advice from expert barrister Gerald Gouriet QC that “Uber and Uber drivers are acting as unlicensed operators” in the city. As chair of the gambling and licensing committee, Cllr Lisle asked for officers to give a verbal update on the council’s response to that advice at the December 10 meeting.

Such a statement would “put on public record about what the council is doing and it would give councillors the opportunity to ask any questions they have,” he said. It would also allow members of the taxi trade and the general public to ask questions too.

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