Author: wnevets

One of the matters raised by the Compliance Officer at the Taxi Trade meeting with the Licensing Chairman and other Councillors & Officers on Monday 2^nd December 2023, was the issue of Hackney Carriages being used for pre-booked set price journeys.

Firstly, that drivers were not engaging taxi meters, and secondly, that as a result, the customer might be charged more than the table of fares permits. That is, even though at the point of pre-booking, the price has been agreed with the customer for the whole journey (which basic business economics dictates is based on the actual whole mileage, most especially when the vehicle has to travel a reasonable distance to perform a journey that only constitutes a small portion of the total journey mileage), that the meter should be engaged at the commencement of the passenger’s journey, and cease at the passenger’s destination with only the meter fare being chargeable.

In consideration of the fact that, as a result of the Council’s decision to remove numerical limits for Hackney Carriages in Restormel, Carrick & Penwith, the significant majority of the licensed vehicles in Cornwall are now Hackney Carriages, if this matter were truly enforced to the full letter of the law, we would see a vast number of journeys being refused by Hackney Carriage operators, due to it being financially unviable to take on such work, and leaving a lot of people in more rural areas cut off from using such taxi services all together, as service would be refused.

As a direct result of the removal of the numerical limit in Restormel, Hackney Carriage numbers have pretty much doubled, flooding & over supplying Taxi Ranks and sending incomes from Taxi Ranks plummeting by 30% or more for operators/drivers, forcing Hackneys to be much more dependant on advanced bookings/private hire style work.

As we live and work in a very rural region of the country, we really do need to address this very serious issue with a practical, common sense & fair approach for all.

When a customer requests a pre-booked journey from Watergate Bay to Mawgan Porth, the actual chargeable mileage by Meter is 2.2 miles.

However, the initial journey to pickup the passenger is 3.1 miles (Cliff Rd Rank to Watergate), plus the journey back to base being 5.3 miles (Mawgan Porth to Cliff Rd Rank), equalling a total dead mileage of 8.4 miles for a 2.2 mile journey.

So that’s a total round trip of 10.6 miles with only 2.2 miles chargeable. Its common sense that every mile has a value and cost implication which cannot be ignored.

If you did a 2.2 mile journey from the Rank, you then have 2.2 dead miles to return to the Rank, which is factored into the Taxi Meter charges. Therefore, if you took the total trip mileage of 10.6 calculated above, and deducted 4.4 miles (2.2 chargeable + equal dead miles), then you have a remaining loss of 6.1 miles.

If we allow the first mile, we are left with 5.1 miles. If we were then able to charge £1.40 per mile (half the mileage rate) for the remaining dead mileage (equivalent to 2.55 miles chargeable and 2.55 dead miles return) then we could charge a call out fee of £7.14, making the total chargeable fare for that journey including the call out fee £15.90.

In comparison, the fare from Cliff Rd Rank to Mawgan Porth is 5.3 chargeable miles and 5.3 dead miles return, giving a total fare of £17.44. So although you are slightly down with the call out charge, I think we reach a fair and comfortable solution for the operator/driver and the customer.

Therefore I would propose an addition to the current Hackney Carriage Table of Fares to allow for call out fees:

Maximum additional rate of charge per mile for call outs over 1 mile: £1.40
(Total mileage less chargeable mileage & equal dead mileage)

It would not be calculated on the meter itself but would legally permit the operator to calculate the total journey mileage, then deduct the chargeable mileage and equal amount of dead mileage, disregard the first mile, and then charge each remaining dead mile at a rate of £1.40 when pricing prebooked journeys that are not from a Taxi Rank and the vehicle has to travel for more than 1 mile before collecting the customer.

This requires no more level of trust between the Council and Hackney Operator than the current system. It just means that the amendment to the Table of Fares legally facilitates a fairer charging system that meets the modern demands of both the Taxi Industry and the customer.

What do you think?

On Tuesday 17^th January, the Full Council will be asked to rule on a recommendation from the Miscellaneous Licensing Committee, to remove the ‘Numerical Limits on Hackney Carriages’ from Restormel, Carrick & Penwith Taxi Zones. 

Item 11.1 Licensing of Hackney Carriages – Review of Numerical Limit Policies

The basis for this recommendation is an inaccurately reported shortage of Taxi services in Cornwall. 

The Numerical Limits exist for a VERY, VERY Important reason, and are NOT, I repeat NOT the cause of any shortage in supply of Taxi/Private Hire services in Cornwall. The Numerical Limits relate ONLY to the availability of Taxis on a physical Taxi Rank, and the ability to physically flag or hail down a Taxi on the street, and are not related in any way whatsoever to the availability of advanced booking services via telephone, mobile app or any other web based media; that is a separate part of the industry altogether. 

The number of Licensed Vehicles (Taxis & Private Hire Vehicles) has shrunk from 1,500 down to 1,011 over the last 4 years. That’s a reduction of 33%, caused mainly by a significant change in the way people conduct their lives due to the pandemic, resulting in a shrink in demand with no resurgence currently in site. This in turn has caused a major shortage of Taxi & PHV drivers, as this work force has moved into the logistics workforce with companies like Amazon & DPD, which has been the main cause for a reduced availability of advanced booking Private Hire Vehicle and Taxi services. There are still plenty of vehicles available but sat idle with no one to drive them.  A matter we have raised with the Misc Lic Committee time and again.

It is very important to note, that in the 3 zones which operate a numerical limit, there has been no reduction in the number of Hackney Carriages (Taxis); the shrink has been in available Private Hire Vehicles (advanced booking services) due to the shrink in demand, shortage of drivers and overbearing and unsustainable rises in costs, which has nothing to do with numerical limits! 

Removing the Numerical Limits will not solve the problem of reduced services. I repeat, removing the Numerical Limits will NOT solve the issue, but it WILL cause catastrophic damage to the availability of Hackney Carriages on Ranks. 

The effects of removing the Numerical Limit will not see a flood of new vehicles onto the road, but instead will see existing Private Hire Vehicles simply switching from Private Hire to Hackney Carriage. This will then result in those vehicles flooding the Taxi Ranks, and forcing the small Hackney operators that are loyal to servicing the local Taxi Ranks out of business, which in turn will result in the larger companies gaining a monopoly on all available services and a reduction in competition. This will result in a rise in prices for the consumer, but will NOT solve the issue, and will instead create further and bigger issues. There will be far less Taxis on the Ranks, as most of the Rank only operators will have been forced out of business, and the Private Hire vehicles that converted to Hackney will not have time to service the Ranks in their place, as they are too busy with Private Hire advanced bookings, by phone and web etc. If you want to control issues like pollution, then numerical limits are the way to go.

There have been many authorities in England who have gone down the route of removing numerical limits, only then to realise the catastrophic and poorly advised mistake they made and have then done a U-turn and reinstated these limits. However, by then irreversible damage is done to the Taxi (Hackney Carriage) trade. 

The issue which is being put before the Council to rule on has sadly been based on a total misunderstanding or refusal to accept and deal with the actual problem, despite the trade explaining it to Licensing Officers and the Chairman of the MLC time and again, that the issue is a lack of drivers, not vehicles; and is also sadly based on rumour, myth and very fake news, such as people holding multiple Hackney Carriage Licenses back for investment purposes, as apparently they are worth a fortune (I wish), which is complete and utter nonsense. 

Heaven help us!

On Friday 9th of December 2022, the Licensing Committee voted to recommend to full Council to remove the numerical limits in Carrick, Penwith and Restormel zones.

Their decision was based on the Council’s online surveys with the trade and public. Out of the 568,000 population of Cornwall, 91 people (0.16%) responded. No current numerical limit survey was used for the basis of this decision.

No representatives from the trade were allowed to take part or speak in the meeting, despite these representatives speaking for far more operators than took part in the Council’s online survey. All participation was excluded from the virtual meeting .