The Government may bring taxi reform legislation forward in Queen’s speech. 

The Government’s Minister of State for Department for Transport, George Freeman MP suggested in a recent Parliamentary debate that the Government may bring forward reform legislation as part of the Queen’s speech.

Mr Freeman, in response to questions from MPs said the Government has made a commitment to legislate on a number of key matters: national minimum standards, national enforcement powers and a national licensing database.

 He continued by saying: “I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman is meeting the taxis Minister shortly to discuss these issues, and that, as I have said, he has raised them at a time when the Government are pulling together their final plans for the Queen’s Speech.”Aside from the legislative issues, the Minister also said that the draft statutory guidance for local authorities in England and Wales will be issued very shortly and that the Government will be launching a consultation on future mobility. This consultation will look at how regulatory frameworks can work better to meet the changing nature and innovation in the transport sector.

Source: Institute of Licensing 11 Oct 2019
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NEWCASTLE
A taxi driver who used an interpreter to say his English was good enough for the job had his licence revoked for failing to mention his conviction for selling illegal tobacco.

Yawar Latif was set to hit the road in a hackney carriage after passing all of Newcastle City Council’s licence checks, including having a good grasp of the English language.

But question marks were raised over his honesty after background checks revealed he narrowly dodged a jail sentence for flogging 20,000 dodgy cigarettes from the back of a car.

The former takeaway worker begged for his licence to be returned and said he believed he only had to disclose convictions for driving offences or violence.

Magistrates had earlier questioned his grasp of English, so Latif told the court he would chat to passengers and didn’t have any problems understanding directions.

But every word of the court hearing had to be translated for him by an interpreter.

Officers at Newcastle City Council stressed drivers’ English did not have to be perfect although they should understand what was being said.

Remarking on the time police found him with 20,000 cigarettes and 20.8 kilos of tobacco before his conviction, Latif said, through his translator, that he had made a ‘stupid mistake’.

He added: ‘I learned from that a very, very good lesson.’

He was handed 240 hours of unpaid work for the £10,000 plot while the council’s regulatory committee ruled this July that he was no longer a ‘fit and proper person’ to hold a licence.

The applicant, who lived in Elswick at the time of his conviction, repeatedly pleaded for a second chance by claiming he had been ‘punished already’ by the courts.

Joanne Bagshaw, prosecuting for the council, said his convictions were serious.

She explained: ‘This is not a situation of someone buying a couple of extra sleeves of cigarettes back from their holiday.’

Despite using an interpreter in his latest court appearance, he attended the hearing when his licence was initially granted on his own.

https://metro.co.uk




Knowsley’s taxis could be about to get more expensive in just two weeks time after a hike in fares was approved by councillors.

The council’s licensing committee approved the increase on yesterday evening in order to bring the borough’s cab fares in line with the rest of the city region and help entice drivers into the licensed trade.

Under the proposals, which were put forward by Knowsley's taxi drivers, the price of a two-mile journey will increase by 70p during the day and £1.40 at night.

Taxi driver Tony Carr told the licensing committee the move was needed to attract more drivers in to the taxi trade in the borough.

He said: “We don’t want to push our customers away and out-price them, that’s the last thing we want to do, but we want to entice new drivers into the trade.”

Knowsley currently has the cheapest taxi fares in Merseyside but rates have not increased since 2016 despite rising petrol prices and increases in the cost of living.

Mr Carr said: “The new blood we want to get in need to be able to make a living.”

He also told councillors that the increased fares would help drivers buy new and cleaner vehicles that would allow them to continue operating if Liverpool introduced a clean air zone similar to London’s ultra-low emissions zone.

He said: “For us to fit in we’ve got to buy electric vehicles. They start at £50,000 so either that has to come out of our wages or we stop doing the job.”

The licensing committee voted unanimously for the fare increase, and approved several other changes including an increase in the charge for passengers “fouling” a taxi from £35 to £40 and a manual override to allow drivers to charge a higher tariff for journeys ending more than four miles outside Knowsley.

The council must now consult publicly on the changes, but if no objections are received the higher fares could come into force in two weeks.

Liverpool Echo
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