I know the press are sh*t, but. Wednesday is the 22nd.
----------------------------------
The House of Lords will debate loosening the rules of taxi regulations next week.
On Wednesday (October 21) peers will consider a government bill to have fewer checks on cabbies and private hire drivers.
Taxi licence holders currently get checked every year, but the new rules would mean they are only reviewed every three years.
The Deregulation Bill and taxi amendments were voted on by MPs on June 23.
http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/crime/parliament-debate-weaker-taxi-laws-next-week-1-6357521
Monday, 20 October 2014
Sunday, 19 October 2014
This week in the Lords.
Starting Tuesday 21 and continuing for five session's up until November 6.
The Deregulation bill.
Clause 10 has already been dropped and two Lords have indicated a motion to remove clauses 11 and 12.
1. Baron Davies of Oldham (Labour)
2. The Bishop of Truro (GodSquad, Cloud based.)
Starting Tuesday 21 and continuing for five session's up until November 6.
The Deregulation bill.
Clause 10 has already been dropped and two Lords have indicated a motion to remove clauses 11 and 12.
1. Baron Davies of Oldham (Labour)
2. The Bishop of Truro (GodSquad, Cloud based.)
Wednesday, 15 October 2014
A Liverpool taxi firm director who also has a licence that allows his vehicles to compete with bus operators is claiming officials from bus giant Arriva and Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) tried to disrupt his service during an incident last Friday.
Tony Mullane runs A&J Taxis and since May 2011 has been using his fleet of vehicles to ferry passengers to Anfield from the city centre for Liverpool FC home games for £2 each.
Using more than 10 black cabs he claims that he can carry between 400 and 500 people each matchday. In January this year he started a similar service between Skelhorne Street in Liverpool city centre and LJLA.
Mr Mullane claims larger bus operators are unhappy with the competition. In August he appeared before a traffic commissioner and was accused of illegally “touting” for passengers. However, the commissioner ruled he was entitled to actively seek out passengers.
On Friday last week he walked over to the bus stop at LJLA, where he has a timetable displayed, and met two Wirral residents who he agreed to take to Lime Street station.
As he accompanied them to his vehicle he claims an official from Arriva shouted at him to stop. This man was then joined by an airport official who Mr Mullane insists was also hostile to him. Mr Mullane told ECHO Business: “The man from the airport said to me ‘don’t come back – you won’t be doing that again’.
“We are allowed to engage with the public to let them know about the service that we offer and when we do that we are not breaking the law – and the airport should be aware of that.”
Arriva spokesman Derek Bowes said: “We refute the allegation of aggressive action by one of our inspectors. We believe that our employee took the correct action in speaking to the taxi driver and reporting the matter to the officials at the airport, who are now investigating the full circumstances of the incident.”
And a spokesman for LJLA added: “We are aware of an altercation between the operator of the Taxi A1 service, an Arriva employee and an employee of a contractor working on behalf of the airport company and this is currently being investigated.
"The Taxi A1 service continues to be permitted to operate at the airport, however the exact operational procedures for this service on site are yet to be agreed, which we will subsequently be seeking to clarify with the operator.”
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/business/taxi-bus-operator-clashes-arriva-7935478
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BIRMINGHAM
A new pollution-busting project will see the city council work with taxi operators to convert up to 80 Hackney Carriage cabs to run on Liquid Propane Gas (LPG).
Funding of £500,000 from the Government’s Clean Vehicle Technology fund has been secured for the scheme – overwhelmingly supported at a meeting of Hackney Carriage drivers, operators and the RMT union.
It is hoped the converted vehicles will help the council’s effort to reduce harmful nitrogen dioxide emissions, which have been reported to be above EU target levels in certain hotspots across the city.
The Birmingham Air Quality Management Area action plan focuses on Broad Steet, Navigation Street and New Street Station – all areas where taxis frequently operate.
Cllr Lisa Trickett, Cabinet Member for a Green, Smart and Sustainable City, said: “This is a great boost for the council’s ambition to promote the uptake of low and zero carbon vehicles.
“We know there are some hotspots that need to be addressed, but these cabs will act as a showcase for cleaner technologies which could be used on a much wider basis.
“Many visitors, residents and those working in Birmingham pass through the hotspot areas, so it is only right to do everything we can to protect them from pollution that is known to be a contributory factor in hundreds of premature deaths every year.
“I hope the fact that so many cabs will be converted will act as inspiration to other fleet operators to consider making a similar investment into their vehicles. We will also continue exploring all other avenues as part of the effort to tackle the challenges we face on emissions.”
The scheme will be marketed through the council’s existing licensing networks with the taxi community. The focus is on 300 older vehicles in hotspot areas.
It is expected that the 80 selected vehicles will all be fitted with the LPG technology by the end of March 2015.
http://birminghamnewsroom.com/2014/10/pollution-busting-taxi-scheme-announced/?
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UBER, LONDON
Taxi service Uber's tax affairs have been referred to HMRC by London's taxi and minicab regulator Transport for London (TfL).
The move follows a complaint from senior Labour MP Margaret Hodge that Uber was "opting out of the UK tax regime".
London mayor and TfL chair Boris Johnson said TfL had no powers over where a company pays tax.
The app's Dutch operating firm, Uber BV, does not pay tax in the UK.
"TfL has raised this issue to the appropriate body, the HMRC, for them to consider," Mr Johnson wrote in a letter to Ms Hodge.
Ms Hodge said she was "pleased".
"I hope that HMRC will carry out a rigorous and thorough investigation to ensure that Uber is paying an appropriate level of tax in the UK, rather than constructing artificial structures to get out of paying its fair share," she said.
An Uber spokesman said it complied with all applicable tax laws and "pays taxes in all jurisdictions, such as corporate income tax, payroll tax, sales and use tax and VAT".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29632646
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTTINGHAM
Tony Mullane runs A&J Taxis and since May 2011 has been using his fleet of vehicles to ferry passengers to Anfield from the city centre for Liverpool FC home games for £2 each.
Using more than 10 black cabs he claims that he can carry between 400 and 500 people each matchday. In January this year he started a similar service between Skelhorne Street in Liverpool city centre and LJLA.
Mr Mullane claims larger bus operators are unhappy with the competition. In August he appeared before a traffic commissioner and was accused of illegally “touting” for passengers. However, the commissioner ruled he was entitled to actively seek out passengers.
On Friday last week he walked over to the bus stop at LJLA, where he has a timetable displayed, and met two Wirral residents who he agreed to take to Lime Street station.
As he accompanied them to his vehicle he claims an official from Arriva shouted at him to stop. This man was then joined by an airport official who Mr Mullane insists was also hostile to him. Mr Mullane told ECHO Business: “The man from the airport said to me ‘don’t come back – you won’t be doing that again’.
“We are allowed to engage with the public to let them know about the service that we offer and when we do that we are not breaking the law – and the airport should be aware of that.”
Arriva spokesman Derek Bowes said: “We refute the allegation of aggressive action by one of our inspectors. We believe that our employee took the correct action in speaking to the taxi driver and reporting the matter to the officials at the airport, who are now investigating the full circumstances of the incident.”
And a spokesman for LJLA added: “We are aware of an altercation between the operator of the Taxi A1 service, an Arriva employee and an employee of a contractor working on behalf of the airport company and this is currently being investigated.
"The Taxi A1 service continues to be permitted to operate at the airport, however the exact operational procedures for this service on site are yet to be agreed, which we will subsequently be seeking to clarify with the operator.”
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/business/taxi-bus-operator-clashes-arriva-7935478
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIRMINGHAM
A new pollution-busting project will see the city council work with taxi operators to convert up to 80 Hackney Carriage cabs to run on Liquid Propane Gas (LPG).
Funding of £500,000 from the Government’s Clean Vehicle Technology fund has been secured for the scheme – overwhelmingly supported at a meeting of Hackney Carriage drivers, operators and the RMT union.
It is hoped the converted vehicles will help the council’s effort to reduce harmful nitrogen dioxide emissions, which have been reported to be above EU target levels in certain hotspots across the city.
The Birmingham Air Quality Management Area action plan focuses on Broad Steet, Navigation Street and New Street Station – all areas where taxis frequently operate.
Cllr Lisa Trickett, Cabinet Member for a Green, Smart and Sustainable City, said: “This is a great boost for the council’s ambition to promote the uptake of low and zero carbon vehicles.
“We know there are some hotspots that need to be addressed, but these cabs will act as a showcase for cleaner technologies which could be used on a much wider basis.
“Many visitors, residents and those working in Birmingham pass through the hotspot areas, so it is only right to do everything we can to protect them from pollution that is known to be a contributory factor in hundreds of premature deaths every year.
“I hope the fact that so many cabs will be converted will act as inspiration to other fleet operators to consider making a similar investment into their vehicles. We will also continue exploring all other avenues as part of the effort to tackle the challenges we face on emissions.”
The scheme will be marketed through the council’s existing licensing networks with the taxi community. The focus is on 300 older vehicles in hotspot areas.
It is expected that the 80 selected vehicles will all be fitted with the LPG technology by the end of March 2015.
http://birminghamnewsroom.com/2014/10/pollution-busting-taxi-scheme-announced/?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
UBER, LONDON
Taxi service Uber's tax affairs have been referred to HMRC by London's taxi and minicab regulator Transport for London (TfL).
The move follows a complaint from senior Labour MP Margaret Hodge that Uber was "opting out of the UK tax regime".
London mayor and TfL chair Boris Johnson said TfL had no powers over where a company pays tax.
The app's Dutch operating firm, Uber BV, does not pay tax in the UK.
"TfL has raised this issue to the appropriate body, the HMRC, for them to consider," Mr Johnson wrote in a letter to Ms Hodge.
Ms Hodge said she was "pleased".
"I hope that HMRC will carry out a rigorous and thorough investigation to ensure that Uber is paying an appropriate level of tax in the UK, rather than constructing artificial structures to get out of paying its fair share," she said.
An Uber spokesman said it complied with all applicable tax laws and "pays taxes in all jurisdictions, such as corporate income tax, payroll tax, sales and use tax and VAT".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29632646
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTTINGHAM
Taxi driver jailed for seven years for sex attack
Taxi driver Gurpal Singh has been jailed for seven years for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old and stealing her SIM card.
He touched her intimately and performed a sexual act on himself in his taxi in the early hours of November 1 last year.
The 34-year-old, of Prestwood Drive in Aspley, was jailed for seven years for sexual assault by penetration and given nine months, to run consecutively, for theft.
He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for life.
Nottingham Crown Court heard that Singh had also stolen from other customers - taking cards from young people in his taxi.
He admitted those thefts and received nine month concurrent prison sentences on each.
Judge James Sampson told him on Wednesday, October 15, he had sexually assaulted the woman, who cannot be identified, when she was alone at night, away from home and heavily under the influence of alcohol.
“You took advantage of her vulnerability, when it was in fact your job and your duty to take her home,” she said.
“She had the right to be safe and secure in your taxi and she had the right to be able to trust you. This was a serious and significant abuse of trust.”
The woman’s taxi journey should have taken 20 minutes from Nottingham but lasted more than one hour, after Singh sexually assaulted her and pinched her phone.
The judge said he had put the victim at risk of infection and she was particularly vulnerable and entirely defenceless.
But Singh received ten percent credit for pleading guilty on the first day of his trial.
References were also put forward to the judge from his family and friends.
The judge said: “You have no previous convictions. You are a family man.
“You are thought of highly within the community.
“You have shown at least some remorse by entering a guilty plea, albeit very late in the day.”
A proceeds of crime hearing was adjourned for mention at court on February 13.
Tuesday, 14 October 2014
Deregulation Bill
Twitter Traffic last night suggest Clause 10 of the Deregulation bill has been withdrawn.
Clause 10 allowed anybody to drive a Private Hire car, as long as they could prove they were not working.
However, before everybody starts getting excited, (if this is true). I forecast this event on the 17 June.
http://acnedriver.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/sprat-to-catch-mackerel.html
Clause 10 was never going to be implemented. It was NEVER intended.
It was a 'Sprat to Catch a Mackeral'
Everybody now relaxes and next week the most contentious issue, cross border hiring for P.H. cars will go through unchallenged.
We have been suckered AGAIN.
(Bloomberg) — Hailo Network Ltd., the taxi application that competes with Uber Technologies Inc., will discontinue its operations in North America and said its co- Chief Executive Officer Jay Bregman will leave the company.
Costs to market the service in North America were “astronomical” and made “profitability for any one player almost impossible,” Tom Barr, CEO and president of London-based Hailo, said in an e-mailed statement today.
Instead, the company will focus on its businesses in Europe and Asia and new products, such as a planned concierge service, Barr said. Bregman, one of the company's six founders, had spent the last 2 1/2 years in New York to ramp up the North American business, where Hailo competes with apps such as Uber, GetTaxi Inc. and Lyft Inc.
While Hailo was struggling in North America, its biggest rival has been fighting against a regulatory backlash in Europe. Uber this month changed the business model for its services in Berlin to evade a ban by German authorities, reducing the fee for its UberPop car-sharing offer to eliminate profit for drivers. Uber raised money at a $17 billion valuation in a June, making it one of the most highly valued startups in Silicon Valley.
Closely-held Hailo's North American markets include Chicago, New York, Toronto, Boston, Washington, Montreal and Atlanta.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20141014/NEWS10/141019910/hailo-taxi-app-exits-north-america-amid-astronomical-costs?
Costs to market the service in North America were “astronomical” and made “profitability for any one player almost impossible,” Tom Barr, CEO and president of London-based Hailo, said in an e-mailed statement today.
Instead, the company will focus on its businesses in Europe and Asia and new products, such as a planned concierge service, Barr said. Bregman, one of the company's six founders, had spent the last 2 1/2 years in New York to ramp up the North American business, where Hailo competes with apps such as Uber, GetTaxi Inc. and Lyft Inc.
While Hailo was struggling in North America, its biggest rival has been fighting against a regulatory backlash in Europe. Uber this month changed the business model for its services in Berlin to evade a ban by German authorities, reducing the fee for its UberPop car-sharing offer to eliminate profit for drivers. Uber raised money at a $17 billion valuation in a June, making it one of the most highly valued startups in Silicon Valley.
Closely-held Hailo's North American markets include Chicago, New York, Toronto, Boston, Washington, Montreal and Atlanta.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20141014/NEWS10/141019910/hailo-taxi-app-exits-north-america-amid-astronomical-costs?
Monday, 13 October 2014
Taxi drivers in Guildford are preparing to strike.
Mark Rostron, secretary of the Guildford Hackney Association (GHA), said the committee has been in dialogue with Guildford Borough Council about its concerns over the past year.
However the group feels the council has not carried out its promises.
Drivers therefore agreed to take strike and protest action ‘without further notice’.
The GHA wants the council to address illegal touting and soliciting, provide additional taxi rank space and "stop overcharging for taxi licences".
“Over the last nine months we have held meetings with representatives of GHA to identify priority issues they would like to see addressed,” said Councillor Paul Spooner, responsible for licensing and governance.
“We then took action to resolve these.
“In making changes, we need to take into account the views of passengers and the general public as well as GHA, drivers who are not members of the association, private hire drivers and operators.”
Cllr Spooner says the council established a Taxi Advisory Group, completed a mystery shopper survey on touting and illegal hire, has taken action to address the concern over alleged illegal touting, completed repairs to and widening of the taxi rank in North Street and published a regular newsletter which provides updates for all taxi and private hire drivers and operators.
“In respect of additional taxi rank spaces, a great deal of work has been completed and possible additional spaces identified,” he said.
“The implementation timetable is not entirely within our control.
“We hope that additional spaces will be available during 2015.”
http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/taxi-drivers-strike-over-dispute-7923454
Mark Rostron, secretary of the Guildford Hackney Association (GHA), said the committee has been in dialogue with Guildford Borough Council about its concerns over the past year.
However the group feels the council has not carried out its promises.
Drivers therefore agreed to take strike and protest action ‘without further notice’.
The GHA wants the council to address illegal touting and soliciting, provide additional taxi rank space and "stop overcharging for taxi licences".
“Over the last nine months we have held meetings with representatives of GHA to identify priority issues they would like to see addressed,” said Councillor Paul Spooner, responsible for licensing and governance.
“We then took action to resolve these.
“In making changes, we need to take into account the views of passengers and the general public as well as GHA, drivers who are not members of the association, private hire drivers and operators.”
Cllr Spooner says the council established a Taxi Advisory Group, completed a mystery shopper survey on touting and illegal hire, has taken action to address the concern over alleged illegal touting, completed repairs to and widening of the taxi rank in North Street and published a regular newsletter which provides updates for all taxi and private hire drivers and operators.
“In respect of additional taxi rank spaces, a great deal of work has been completed and possible additional spaces identified,” he said.
“The implementation timetable is not entirely within our control.
“We hope that additional spaces will be available during 2015.”
http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/taxi-drivers-strike-over-dispute-7923454
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