THIS WEEK IN PARLIMENT

Michelle McIlveen DUP 

I thank the Minister for her statement. I welcome the clarity given today on MOTs and the commitment by the Executive in the last number of days to supporting airports as well as city deals and their associated infrastructure projects.

The statement does not mention the outstanding matter of financial support for hauliers and taxi drivers. It is also disappointing that the problem accessing medical assessments has still not been resolved. In addition, DVA has introduced a fully online system for driving licence renewal. This is proving problematic for those who do not have access to the online system, with hard copy applications being returned. Can the Minister give a clear timeline for when these matters will be fully addressed?

Nichola Mallon Social Democratic and Labour Party

 

I thank the Member for her question. We have been working very hard across the Executive on the issue of hauliers.

 I have been working with the Minister for the Economy and the Minister of Agriculture. We engage very regularly with the Department for Transport and the UK Treasury. We are clear that we need to get support to our haulage industry because it has a critical role to play in securing our supply chains, and we will keep up the pressure on that.

On the taxis issue, the Member will be aware that, as Minister for Infrastructure, I have responsibility for regulation. I have put a number of solutions in place. The one that is outstanding is the specialised medical assessment. I am exploring two potential legal options. I hope to be in a position to give confirmation to Members and affected drivers as soon as possible. The challenge is getting a solution that is legally robust while being mindful of the need to ensure road safety for drivers and other road users.

On the issue of financial support for taxis, I am sure that the Member will also be aware that the Department for the Economy is responsible for financial support to those whose livelihoods have been very badly affected by this crisis. I have made representations to the Minister for the Economy, the Minister of Finance and the Minister for Communities on the potential of repurposing of taxi drivers, because I recognise that they are one of the groups that have been really badly hit.

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Jamie Stone Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Armed Forces), Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Defence)
 

I have a particularly harrowing case in my constituency: a young couple who had a taxi business, Leanne and Fraser Gair. They now have no income whatsoever and have fallen through what I might call the floorboards of the safety net.

 Will the Leader of the House be kind enough to agree with me that it would be helpful if a Minister came to the House to outline to Members like me how we can speedily try to help these people, pick them up off the floor and get them going again?

(Citation: HC Deb, 6 May 2020, c583)

Jacob Rees-Mogg Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons 

The hon. Gentleman makes a very fair point. I think all of us as constituency MPs have businesses that we would like to provide more help to and that find they cannot apply for the scheme they want. The Treasury has made enormous strides to help people. There are Treasury questions on 18 May, when this matter can be raised. The schemes are enormous and widespread, but there are some who fall through the cracks.

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HULL
Taxi driver who 'worshipped his kids' found dead at home after drinking session

James Dawson, 40, was described as an 'exceptional father'

A former bar manager described as "an exceptional father who worshipped his kids" tragically passed away after taking a mixture of drugs and alcohol.

James Dawson, 40, of Bridlington, was found by his partner dead in his home on Wellington Road on June 4, 2019.

He lived with his partner and their two daughters and previously managed The Lounge in Bridlington and later worked as a taxi driver.

Hull Coroner's Court heard that Mr Dawson drank heavily and normally had a bottle of vodka per evening.

His partner described him as drinking "to the point of passing out" while at work, but also drinking heavily on his days off.

The drinking began as a coping mechanism to "blot out the pain" after his dad died when he was 22, but he also drank and took both prescribed tablets for his arthritis, but also took diazepam which was unprescribed and smoked cannabis.
Mr Dawson was described as "funny, clever and bright" and as someone who "wanted to be there for his children who he would look after and take to activities" by his partner.

She also said "he was caring not only about his family but about his friends, but struggled with the loss of his father".

Also paying tribute to Mr Dawson, his sister described him as "larger than life, and a loyal friend that would do anything for those around him".

She said he "worshiped his kids, was an exceptional father and had no reason to leave them".

It was two days after Mr Dawson's partner had last seen him in the house that she decided to check on him, and sadly found him sitting in a chair in his bedroom holding a cannabis joint.

He was surrounded by 15 bottles of spirit on the floor around him, as well as empty packets of painkillers prescribed for him, but also unprescribed diazepam and empty food packets.

Mr Dawson's partner was not aware that anything was amiss as he snored due to his drinking and the pair both has separate bedrooms many years prior to his death.

She presumed he had been sleeping throughout the day due to working night shifts and last saw him at midnight on Sunday, June 2, but thought she heard him snoring after this.

It was not until Tues June 4 at around 7.30pm that his partner realised Mr Dawson's car was still outside and felt it was "unusual" that he had not gone to work.

She entered his room and found him lifeless and called for for an ambulance, with a paramedic then pronouncing him dead.

https://tinyurl.com/ybllrsh3
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GLASGOW

Members of the public could benefit from a 15 per cent discount on all Glasgow Taxi fares, after proposals were submitted by drivers to the board earlier this week. 

It comes as trade members become increasingly concerned over a loss in business as the coronavirus lockdown enters its seventh week.

One driver told the Glasgow Times: "The Glasgow Taxi trade has never known anything remotely like the current situation. 

"Lots of our drivers have taken long periods of work off and don’t know when they’ll start back.
“Guys are going out and working five hours for £20. They’re becoming really disheartened. If you sat there for five hours and you’d picked up four hires and pulled in 20 quid, then it’s a complete waste of time."

“Sometimes you’re waiting two hours alone on ranks for a fare." 

Drivers and members fear that if a public discount is not introduced soon, customers will continue to use competitor's services - which could result in the loss of jobs.

The driver added: "The discount would help footfall on the taxi ranks. It would help us go out to the larger schemes around Glasgow.
 

"We’ve lost an awful lot of out of city centre work because our competitors are much cheaper, however, they don’t have the overheads a taxi owner has.

 

"They can buy a good car for £10,000, whereas a new electric taxi costs £57,000 and then they have a license to buy and a test to sit. 

“We are the city's proper taxi drivers but we know can’t match our competitors, but what we can do is try to bridge the gap." 

Before plans to fully implement Glasgow's low-emission zone (LEZ) were halted, many trade members had forked out £57,000 on new electric cabs that would comply with the new regulations.

https://tinyurl.com/yatssde6

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COVENTRY

Seven weeks into lockdown, streets across the UK remain quiet in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus - and some taxi drivers have said they are "desperate" without business.

Some have cut their working hours by more than half while others have had to give up work altogether.

The RMT - the union that represents many transport workers - said 80,000 taxi drivers in the UK were in danger of becoming destitute because of the lockdown.

Generally self-employed, drivers may be able to claim 80% of their earnings under government measures - but will not receive that money until June.

"We are key workers, I think - all the people that are going to work, we take them," Faisal Riaz said. "But there's no mention of us."

After 20 years behind the wheel, Mr Riaz has given up driving his black cab in Coventry.

"We rely on the ranks," he said. "The towns are dead, our city is dead. There's no point working."

He stopped working as soon as the lockdown was announced and has now been out of work for seven weeks.

Living at home with his two young children and his 73-year-old mother, Mr Riaz decided going to work was not worth the risk for him.

"You don't know who you're picking up," he said. "We're in the hot spot."

However the decision to put the brakes on his driving career has not been without financial implications.

"It's desperate," Mr Riaz said. "Savings can only stretch so far - I've got a mortgage, kids, bills still need paying."

His wife, a driving instructor, has also had to stop working. Both are self-employed and are waiting until June when they hope to be able to receive a taxable grant provided by the government.

The grant would be worth 80% of self-employed workers' profits up to a cap of £2,500 per month, which initially will be available for three months in one lump-sum payment.

By June, however, Mr Riaz said he would have lost three months' pay.

"There's nothing for taxi drivers," he said. "There's no support."

Nahid Chowdry has been driving taxis in Solihull since moving to the UK in 2009. 

Since the lockdown, he said "work is completely dead" but nevertheless he "forces" himself to go to work.

Mr Chowdry made only about £15 one morning, and has been working four-hour days instead of 10. For the first time, he has had to apply for Universal Credit. 

"I appreciate whatever help I get," he said, but added most of that money had gone on insurance - which cost him more than £300 a month.

Mr Chowdry, who lives in Birmingham, does not own his cab, instead he has rented it from a taxi firm which he said had dropped the weekly rental fee. But he still felt companies could do more to keep their drivers safe.

He said he was scared of being exposed to coronavirus and passing it on to his children and said firms "don't provide any type of help".
"They just tell us to keep the car clean but nobody talks about us," he said.

After every passenger leaves the cab, Mr Chowdry cleans the door handles and uses hand and air sanitiser but he said he thought "more could have been done".

"It is scary," he said. "I'm scared when I go to my house and see my kids."

Sajid Hussain has been a cabbie in Birmingham and Solihull for almost 15 years.

In October, he spent £30,000 on a new car that would be compliant with the proposed Clean Air Zone in Birmingham.

"Now I'm taking home about £30 a day, maximum," he said. "I'll probably have to sell the car."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-52490083