Rotherham

Members of the public are being urged to have their say on how to improve the standard of Rotherham’s taxi industry.

Rotherham Council wants views from passengers and taxi drivers on proposed changes to its Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy over the next eight weeks.

The council said the publication of the Jay Report on child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, which revealed 1,400 children had been abused over 16 years while the authorities turned a blind eye, had resulted in a ‘significant impact on the public’s confidence in the taxi industry’.

The report revealed that taxis were used to ferry young victims around the town and beyond, where they were abused.

Councillor Judy Dalton, of Rotherham Council’s Licensing Board, said: “Although Rotherham’s current policy is compliant with the law and our standards exceed those of some areas, we felt we had to restore public confidence in the local taxi trade so we propose to raise the standards in a variety of areas.

“We hope the industry and the public will respond to the consultation and share with us their views. We will take this into account and seek to have changes in place by April.”

http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/local/public-to-have-say-on-rotherham-s-taxi-industry-1-6932724
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Isle 'O' Man.

Cabbies say they have not been consulted over planned new arrangements for taxis waiting to pick up passengers from the airport.

New taxi rank arrangements, to be discussed with operators, were announced as part of a raft of new charges unveiled by the cash-strapped Department of Infrastructure last week aimed at raising £500,000.

Taxis currently charge a £1 per trip airport levy, but the department says for many years this has not been passed on to the government.

It is proposed that the ply-for-hire taxis licensed to pick up at the airport will in future operate on a pre-paid permit system. There are about 45 carrying Malew plates under the regional licensing system.

Ply-for-hire taxis will continue to wait in front of the terminal building for their next fare.

But private hire, pre-booked taxis will in future have to wait in the former disc zone area of the short-stay car park to collect their passengers and so will pay the £1 charge for the first hour of parking.

The free first half hour of parking at the airport is also being abolished.

But Ray Teare, chairman of the Manx Taxi Federation, said there had been no prior consultation with the taxi trade.

And he described the claim that cabbies should have been passing on the £1 charge to government as ‘complete nonsense’.

He said the 2001 Transport Act abolished the old permit system and introduced the £1 levy.

But he insisted: ‘The £1 was an incentive to be at the airport to serve the public. The drivers were allowed to charge an extra £1 on their fare.

‘If we picked up from Douglas and took a passenger to the airport we could not charge the £1. It was an incentive to provide the service at the airport because sometimes taxis weren’t there.’

He challenged the Infrastructure Minister to show him the provisions in the legislation proving the levy was to be paid to the government.

Mr Teare said it was wrong to charge cabbies more at a time when the economy was not as strong as it had been and passenger numbers using the airport were falling.

And he said the drivers would have no choice but to pass the charges onto their customers.

Mr Teare said: ‘We would certainly be against any charges for ply for hire taxis. The drivers do long hours for little reward.

‘We all know the state of the airport and the number of flights coming in. We are concerned there has been no prior consultation on these charges. I’m not sure how this will operate and what charges there will be.’

And he added: ‘What impression does this give to the travelling public arriving in the island and having to put up with this? It doesn’t give a good impression about the state of the island and its finances, does it?

‘Taxpayers’ money has gone into the airport and now they are asking us to pay twice.’

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/taxi-trade-were-not-consulted-1-6927938
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A third of taxi drivers across Sedgemoor risk losing their licence as they have not yet submitted their DBS forms.

Sedgemoor, like other local authorities, has a duty to ensure that the public are transported in safe vehicles by individuals who are suitable to drive for the public.

This is done by a licencing system. Part of that system requires drivers to submit a DBS form.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly CRB) tells the Council what convictions or reports are recorded against individuals (if any) which then, in turn, feeds into the licencing process.

All current licences expire on November 30.

It appears that, it can take as much as a month for the results to come back from the DBS to Sedgemoor District Council and only then can SDC issue a licence.

If any drivers are experiencing difficulty with any aspect of their renewal, please contact SDC as soon as possible as time is running out.
http://www.cheddarvalleygazette.co.uk/somerset-taxi-drivers-face-losing-licence/story-24038780-detail/story.html?#ixzz3IAjH21Xm 
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