A request has been made to limit the number of licences awarded to Hackney Carriage vehicles due to falling demand for taxis.
According to the request – which has been made by local Hackney Carriage drivers led by Chris Bray and signed by 31 licensed drivers – the fall in demand has seen drivers earning less than minimum wage.
Carlisle City Council cannot legally refuse an application for a new Hackney Carriage licence unless there is a limitation policy in place restricting the numbers allowed to operate at any time.
To implement such a policy, the authority must first conduct a survey to examine the demand for Hackney Carriage taxis.
In the agenda of tomorrow’s meeting, the city council’s Regulatory Panel will be presented with two options of how to respond:
- To instruct the Licensing Manager to commission an Unmet Demand Survey and report the findings back to the panel.
- To note the request, take no further action and continue to have no limit on the numbers of Hackney Carriage vehicles.
The agenda also makes clear that the government requires that a decision to limit the number of licences “must be supported by reasons that are sound, clear cut, specific, convincing and which can be publicly justified, citing the importance of consumer benefits relating to competition.
Separately, in order to provide more information to members on whether there was support for the request, 132 Hackney Carriage proprietors were invited to complete a questionnaire, with 28 responses received (21 per cent).
Nineteen respondents said they thought a Taxi Demand Survey should be carried out in Carlisle with nine voting against the idea.
The same number of respondents said they would be willing to pay an additional fee to cover the cost of the survey, estimated to be about £20 per year per vehicle, with nine again voting against.
The final question about whether respondents would like the survey to be carried out if the Regulatory Panel indicated that it would be unlikely to limit Hackney Carriage licences – whatever the result of the survey – saw 12 vote in favour and 16 against.
Why do taxi drivers want to restrict the number of licences?
In a letter to Nicola Edwards in the city council’s licensing team, Chris Bray outlined eight reasons why he wants to see taxi driver numbers restricted:
- Trade in the last 10 years has halved as people use taxis less because people’s habits have changed and nightlife is nowhere near what it used to be.
- Many taxi drivers and private hire drivers are now earning less than minimum wage as a result of Carlisle City Council issuing licenses to anyone that fits the criterium which makes the situation no longer tenable.
- Too many drivers are doing too many hours to make ends meet which in turn creates dangerous driving habits, fatigue, and tiredness.
- Cherry picking on the taxi ranks is commonplace now as some drivers will not move off the rank if the job is short.
- Too many hours in the saddle so to speak is dangerous and not earning enough leads to a lack of maintenace on the vehicles.
- I have spoken to the majority of the drivers with only one objection. I also have a lot of signatures from said drivers.
- I have waited until the pandemic eases before contacting you and wait for your response.
- The only people that can right this problem and put people back on an even keel – minimum wage plus – are the regulatory panel.
