Threat of a one-tier taxi system

The New Northern Ireland Assembly is examining a Taxi Bill that aims to establish a one-tier licensing system across the region.

The Bill will merge Hackney Carriages with Private Hire Vehicles potentially destroying the livelihoods of 450 Hackney Carriage drivers by allowing 2,000 Private Hire cars to pick up on the street in Belfast.

Taxis traditionally in the UK can be hailed on the streets and at a rank, whilst Private Hire Vehicles must be pre-booked and cannot tout for business or use taxi ranks.

Two weeks ago the Belfast City cab trade were allowed by the authorities to protest outside Stormont. A group of over 200 drivers turned out to protest against the proposed Taxi Bill.

The Minister of the Environment, Arlene Foster, realising this was an important issue, agreed to talk to the T&G representatives who organised the protest and has now agreed that they should be allowed to give evidence to the Environment Committee, who is looking at the details of the Bill.

Northern Ireland is the only taxi licensing area that until recently was run by the UK Government. The re-establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont has meant that the new Assembly now governs this licensing district.

Prior to the re-establishment of The Assembly, policy officials at the Department of Environment (DoE) decided that it would cease to differentiate between Hackney Carriages and Private Hire Vehicles, effectively combining the two very different services.

Should the Bill be implemented, not only are individual Hackney Carriage drivers having their livelihoods threatened by Private Hire operators taking their work away, but they are also going to be required to be a ‘taxi operator’. This would mean every fare will have to be recorded by every driver and a record kept of the name of the passenger and pick up and drop off point. Fines for not doing this will run to thousands of pounds if this requirement is not adhered to!

If the UK’s mainland taxi industry thinks this is an ‘across the water’ issue and why should they worry about it, well, perhaps they should think again?

UK licensing regulators have indicated they have wanted to simplify licensing conditions and to them a one-tier system would in theory make sense!

There has already been talk in Scotland about the simplicity of having a one-tier system and should the controversial Northern Ireland legislation be approved, it would not be too difficult for Scotland to follow suit. This could then happen in England and Wales and in particular in London, which is renowned for having the finest taxi system in the world.

The London Taxi Board is extremely concerned by these developments. It is currently actively involved in assisting the licensed taxi trade in Northern Ireland in ensuring that this misguided element, of what is otherwise a not unreasonable review of taxi legislation, never reaches the statute book.