Taxi drivers in the Harrogate district have said a new system for regulating hackney carriages will be bad for customers and cause cabbies to go bust.
The current limit of 148 hackney carriages in the district will be abolished when North Yorkshire Council comes into existence on April 1, paving the way for a flood of new drivers.
At the same time, a new single taxi zone allowing drivers to operate countywide rather than stick to their local districts will begin, even though 52% opposed it in a consultation.
Drivers say the single zone will lead to some places being flooded by taxis at busy times while less popular rural areas will struggle to book cars.
They also say ending the cap on the number of hackney carriages means licence plates they paid thousands of pounds for are now effectively worthless.
Supporters of the new system say it incorporates Department for Transport best practice guidance and “any negative impacts tend to level out over time”.
‘Totally destroyed’
The Ripon cabbies in Harrogate this week
Six Ripon hackney carriage drivers, who are supported by colleagues from across the district, met the Stray Ferret this week to express anger at the changes.
Katie Johnstone, of Johnstone Family Hire, said lifting the limit on the number of vehicles would ruin many taxi firms.
She said until now, people like her had paid about £20,000 to buy a plate so they could operate one of only 148 hackney carriages in the Harrogate district.
Ms Johnstone said abolishing the limit meant the plates now had no sell-on value, leaving current plate holders a combined £3 million out of pocket.
She said she took out a five-year bank loan to buy her plate as part of a career change two years ago and “it’s not worth anything now”, adding:
“I’m a single parent — I worked on minimum wage for years. I’ve invested a lot of money to try to better myself and they have totally destroyed it.”
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‘The system has worked for 100 years’
Keith Snowden, whose family has operated taxis in Ripon since 1926, said:
“It’s a ludicrous situation. The system has worked for the last 100 years — why change it?”
All the cabbies predicted many private hire drivers will get hackney licences because it would enable them to make more money by picking up customers from ranks whereas they currently have to be booked in advance.
They said this would create hotspots as drivers battled for customers in busy times in the most lucrative areas, and ignored calls from less profitable rural customers.
Anne Smith, of ANB Taxis in Ripon, said:
“Everything we have put into these plates has been completely taken away from us.”
Ms Smith tried to enlist the support of Julian Smith, the Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, but said he had been “absolutely useless”. Mr Smith did not reply when the Stray Ferret asked for a response.
Paul Dodds, of JPD Taxis, said he feared he and other drivers would have to “pack in” because of the changes.
North Yorkshire Council will replace North Yorkshire County Council and seven district councils, including Harrogate Borough Council, at the end of the month.
The drivers all said the new system was being introduced for the convenience of the council rather than for drivers because it was easier to manage than the current district-wide system.
Richard Fieldman
The taxi drivers said they would continue to oppose the changes until the new system begins next month.
Ripon cabbie Richard Fieldman criticised North Yorkshire County Council’s defence of the changes:
“They keep relating to Department for Transport best practice guide, but have chosen to leave bits of it out to suit them, ie it states that in areas where licence limits are in place, they should firstly conduct an unmet demand survey to see if there is any latent demand, before proceeding with the policy; they have failed to do that.“The fact is, they have totally ignored the result of the consultation, which concluded 52% are against it.”
‘A coherent regulatory framework’
“The hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy incorporates the Department for Transport’s best practice guidance and statutory standards, to ensure that the public continues to be provided with safe and accessible vehicles. It also provides a coherent regulatory framework for the trade across the county.
“As a single local authority for North Yorkshire, we must ensure hackney carriage and private hire licence holders and taxi operators across the county are treated equally.
“Introducing one hackney carriage zone for North Yorkshire will provide drivers with the flexibility to operate across the county and serve these rural areas, create environmental efficiencies with the potential for fewer empty journeys, a wider distribution of wheelchair-accessible vehicles, as well as efficiency savings for the council, with one set of fees and fares.
“All responses to the consultation have been considered. And feedback from customers, and even some of the trade, has suggested that at peak times there is a lack of taxis to serve busy periods. Introducing a single zone should overcome this lack of provision and allow customers to get to their destination safely.”
Cllr Derek Bastiman
“Understandably, there is apprehension from some of the trade of hotspot areas, but evidence from other authorities who have followed a similar approach has indicated that any negative impacts tend to level out over time.
“We have considered the view of the Competition and Markets Authority, supported by the Department for Transport, and imposing hackney carriage quantity restrictions can reduce availability and increase waiting times.
“There is no expectation that quantity restrictions for hackney carriages would continue indefinitely and any proposed sale of vehicles* between proprietors are carried out independently from the council and at their own risk. These sales show people wish to enter the trade to provide a service to the public but are being prevented from doing so by the quantity restrictions.
“We also want to ensure adequate provision of wheelchair-accessible vehicles across the county and have agreed to work in consultation with the North Yorkshire disability forum and develop and maintain an inclusive service plan within 12 months to ensure everyone has access to hackney carriage and private hire vehicles. Until such time, licence renewal and new licence fees for wheelchair-accessible vehicles have been waived.
“The new hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy is a baseline for the new authority, and will be kept under review, as there may be further developments and consultation in the future.”
All hackney carriage vehicles in North Yorkshire look set to be allowed to charge a maximum of £7.40 for a standard two-mile journey.
Currently Harrogate Borough Council and the other six district councils in the county set their own fares for hackney carriages.
But the new North Yorkshire Council, which will become the sole licensing authority on April 1, will align the maximum fares when senior councillors meet next week. A report to the councillors is here.
The proposed new county-wide fare structure is based on what customers currently pay in both Harrogate and Selby districts.
Out of 350 local authorities Harrogate and Selby currently stand at number 76 in the national hackney carriage fare table — meaning the taxis will be more expensive than in almost 80% of other places.
Under the proposed tariff, a two-mile journey within North Yorkshire would cost a maximum of £7.40 between 6am and midnight. The price will go up after midnight and at Christmas and new year.
A maximum soiling charge of £100 – should a vehicle need to be cleaned – has also been set to align with the current charges in Richmondshire, Craven and Ryedale. The rate in the Harrogate district is currently £80.
Cllr Derek Bastiman
North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for open to business, Cllr Derek Bastiman, said:
“We need to ensure all businesses, residents and visitors across North Yorkshire are subject to the same maximum fare, regardless of where they live, work or visit.
“The setting of taxi fares is a statutory duty for the licensing authority and our aim is to strike a balance between setting a fare that is acceptable to the customer and to the taxi driver, and not create confusion by varied fares in the licensed area.
“The proposed fares are the maximum hackney carriage drivers can charge. They can, of course, charge a lower fare, should they wish to do so.”
If approved by North Yorkshire County Council’s executive on Tuesday next week, the proposed fares will be subject to a statutory 14-day consultation period.
Once a tariff of fares has been set, a driver cannot charge more to passengers than the charge shown on the meter apart from in certain exceptional circumstance, such as where a journey ends outside of the council area and a fee has been agreed in advance.
Private hire vehicles set their own fares and cannot be regulated by the licensing authority, so customers should agree the fare before the journey commences.
Read more:
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- Call to retain taxi zones in North Yorkshire amid proposed changes
Harrogate district’s garden waste collection to remain county’s most expensive
The cost of garden waste collection in the Harrogate district looks set to rise to £43.50 next year.
The service currently costs £41 a year, which is £15 a year more than people in Richmondhsire pay and is also higher than charges in the other five districts. Selby’s is free.
Harrogate Borough Council, which is currently responsible for the service, will be abolished on April 1.
North Yorkshire county councillors, who will transfer to the new single unitary authority North Yorkshire Council on the same date, look set to agree a six per cent increase in the cost of the service.
It would mean Harrogate district households that choose to pay for the service will see the charge increase by £2.50. Hambleton households will pay the next highest at £40, followed by Scarborough and Ryedale at £38, Craven at £36 and Richmondshire at £25.
The service is currently free in Selby.
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Garden waste is a discretionary service, which councils are not legally required to provide.
North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for business and economic development, Cllr Derek Bastiman, whose portfolio includes the management of waste disposal, said the service would be fairer because currently households in some districts that didn’t use the service subsidised those who did.
He said:
“This is a service people choose to opt into and it is important that we are clear on the need for it to pay for itself, alongside our commitment to continue to provide it to those residents who would like to receive it.
“There are real benefits to the service, including the environmental benefits of recycling garden waste and the convenience of not having to take your own garden waste to a recycling centre. It may well be cheaper than paying the fuel to get there, too.”
North Yorkshire County Council’s executive members will be asked to agree the new rate when members meet on January 10.