NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

Severn Trent explains why it's been using taxi drivers to check on water leaks

The water company which covers Nottinghamshire has been explaining why it has been using taxi drivers to go out and check on leaks.

Severn Trent says it has been using taxis as part of its 'Virtual Field Team' programme.

This was launched last year as a video-calling service that allows the water company's customers to speak ‘face-to-face’ with an engineer when they report a leak.

But it has now emerged that taxi drivers have been sent out by Severn Trent to send back videos of reported leaks.

A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “We’ve carried out a series of two-week trials as we look to find new, more efficient ways to find and fix leaks.

"This particular trial has looked at around 50 small leaks where we’ve used taxi drivers rather than technicians as a cheaper way to get live video footage of the leak, so our engineers back at base can quickly assess the correct response and dispatch the most appropriate team to fix it.

“We’re now looking at all the trial results to see the best way to help our engineers spend more time doing what’s best for our customers by fixing leaks rather than simply assessing them.”


The move has been strongly criticised by the GNB union.

Stuart Fegan, GMB National Officer, said: “When I found out Severn Trent are using taxi drivers to investigate leaks I thought it must be a joke.

“But no one is laughing – this has got huge safety implications for customers, the drivers and the public at large.

“Water engineers are highly trained specialists - they can spot if water is contaminated and if water produces a risk to the public.

"I doubt most taxi drivers can. They also don’t know how to pin-point leaks - meaning repair crews can dig unnecessary holes in the highway.

“And how is someone going to feel after they report a leak, expecting a Severn Trent worker to attend with a uniform and the necessary training, and a taxi driver turns up? They’d think it was a hoax call.

“Severn Trent needs to see sense and cancel the 'Uber leaks' programme immediately."


Severn Trent is the UK’s second biggest water company, stretching from mid-Wales to Rutland, and from north Wales to the Bristol Channel and the Humber.

In November it said that initial trials of the 'Virtual Field Team' scheme showed that the team had been able to review three times as many leaks compared to engineers who would have had to travel to each leak location.

https://bit.ly/2J83PDj
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LUTON

A taxi driver rapist who was able to live freely for 10 years was captured on tonight's episode of 24 Hours in Police Custody.

The channel 4 programme followed police in Luton after a routine check found a match from a new domestic encounter, with DNA collected at the time of the rapes in 2007.

DNA at the scene of both rapes linked the suspect together, but police were unable to identify a suspect until a more recent domestic encounter.

Cameras followed the twists and turns of the arrest, as the case was reopened thanks to the new evidence.

Behind every unsolved rape case there will be a victim who has not received justice,' said detective Ginnette Amico. 'It's my job to not leave any stone unturned.'

Viewers saw police track down Ahmed Shipu to his house, and then question him over the incidents. 

Detective Amico watched footage of the victim's interviews from 2007, as both described being picked up by a taxi driver and offered a lift.

The first, a 15-year-old girl, was picked up and driven on a route she didn't know, before the man stopped in a car park, pushed her to the ground and committed the rape.

The second, a 22-year-old, was offered a lift with another man, however when the male got out of the car to pick up something from his house, the suspect drove off and raped her. 

'I see myself as a protector of victims, and the two victims have had to carry on their lives with the scars he has created for them,' explained  detective Amico.

Reopening a cold case has it's challenges, and the detectives must look through the evidence collected. Though they knock on doors and ask questions, Detective Amico is left frustrated.

'What they've got to realise is that if it was their mum or their sister then they'd want people to say something,' she explained.

During the hour-and-a-half episode, police are able to track down the older of the two victims, who is now in her thirties, and listens on as she tries to provide as much evidence as she can.

https://dailym.ai/2Tuk3es 
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OXFORD

 POLICE are yet to charge anyone five months after a woman was subjected to a terrifying sex attack in the back of a taxi.

However, a 34-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault in October remains a suspect, police have confirmed.

The victim, aged in her 20s, had fallen asleep while being driven from Oxford to Abingdon and awoke to find the driver of the car undoing her trousers.

She was then sexually assaulted.

Officers confirmed that the 34-year-old from Oxford was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault the day after the incident.

He was subsequently released under investigation.

The woman had taken a taxi from Park End Street in Oxford city centre at around 1.30am on October 14, and was driven to Abingdon.

After she was assaulted the woman escaped from the taxi near West St Helen Street in Abingdon but was followed by the driver.

She approached a member of the public for help before the driver left the scene.

The driver is described as an Asian male with short black hair and stubble.

https://bit.ly/2UuXcvO
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YESTERDAY 11/3 IN PARLIMENT
 


Lord Hylton Crossbench

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sugg on 21 February (HL13733),  what assurances they can provide that access to Parliament, Government departments and St Thomas’s Hospital will not be obstructed by taxis blocking Parliament Square;
 and whether prosecutions are in process or pending as a result of earlier blockades.

(Citation: HL Deb, 11 March 2019, cW)

Baroness Williams of Trafford The Minister of State, Home Department, Minister for Equalities (Department for International Development)

The management of demonstrations is an operational matter for the police

The police are also responsible for any decisions on arrests.

 Following advice from the Crown Prosecution Service, the police will decide whether or not an offence reaches the threshold required for prosecution under the relevant legislation.
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Bridget Phillipson Labour, Houghton and Sunderland South 
 
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to prevent taxi or private hire vehicle drivers from operating exclusively outside of the locality in which they are licensed.

(Citation: HC Deb, 11 March 2019, cW)
 
Nusrat Ghani Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport), Assistant Whip (HM Treasury)

The Government’s response to the report by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing agreed with the principle that all taxi and private hire vehicle journeys should start and/or end within the area that issued the licences, and set out that further consideration will be given to how this might best work in practice, with a view to legislation.
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Clive Betts Chair, Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
 
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's consultation entitled Taxi and private hire vehicle licensing: protecting users, published on 12 February 2019, whether he has plans for statutory guidance to prohibit vehicles from undertaking journeys which do not take place or end in the area which they are licensed.


(Citation: HC Deb, 11 March 2019, cW)
 
Nusrat Ghani Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport), Assistant Whip (HM Treasury)

The draft statutory guidance on taxi and private hire vehicle licensing which the Department is consulting on is made using powers in the Policing and Crime Act 2017.

 Section 177 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 enables the Secretary of State to issue guidance to public authorities as to how their licensing functions under taxi and private hire vehicle legislation may be exercised so as to protect children, and vulnerable individuals who are 18 or over, from harm.

 The Department does not believe that prohibiting vehicles from undertaking journeys which do not take place or end in the area in which they are licensed falls within scope of the section 177 powers.

In the response to the report by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing Government agreed with the principle that all taxi and private hire vehicle journeys should start and/or end within the area that issued the licences, and set out that further consideration will be given to how this might best work in practice, with a view to legislation.
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