MPs Warn Of Taxi Law Loopholes...TfL Accused Of Facilitating Abuse.

Safety measures around taxi licencing set up in the wake of the Rotherham abuse scandal are being circumvented by rogue drivers, a cross-party group of MPs has said.

Loopholes in national licencing laws are being exploited by private-hire cab drivers and their firms and are putting public safety at risk, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Taxis revealed.

More than 50 Rotherham taxi drivers were stripped of their licences last year after it emerged their cars were places of abuse or used to ferry girls around for sexual exploitation.

After the scandal emerged all taxi drivers in the town were required to install CCTV in their cabs and undertake DBS safety checks.

But in a new report the APPG on taxis said drivers were registering their licences in neighbouring authorities to circumvent the rules.

In Reading a ban on app-based taxi service Uber has ended up with its drivers applying for licences under the Slough and Windsor authority and continuing to work in the town.

And Southend drivers who had been banned for criminal convictions continued to drive under licences issued by Transport for London.

APPG chair and Labour MP Wes Streeting, who has written for PoliticsHome on the issue today, said: “Passenger safety is being put at risk because minicab drivers and operators are using loopholes in the law and a patchwork quilt of different safety standards across the country to flout rules introduced by local authorities to keep their residents safe.

“It is time for government to act to avoid a repeat of the Rotherham scandal.”

The APPG called for new national standards ensuring all taxi journeys begin or end in the local authority where the driver’s licence was issued.

It also demanded a national database of registered taxi and private hire drivers, new licencing standards across the UK and beefed up DBS checks.

Taxi Leaks Extra Comment:

TFL's Leon Daniels, bending over backwards to help with their 'special relationship' with Uber.

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Rachel Griffin, Susie Lamplugh Trust "Posing As Legitimate Minicab, Preferred Method Of Dangerous Sexual Predators"

        How will your night end???

Back in 2014, clause 10 was dropped from the deregulation bill that went through parliament. 

This would reflect the view that all over the UK, (except in London according to TfL) there is a massive public safety issue, and that only licensed private hire drivers should be driving licensed private hire vehicles. 

Unfortunately for the traveling public in London, TfL say that anyone can drive a private hire minicab around the capital, whether they are licensed as a PH driver or not. 

This includes people who just want to avoid paying the congestion charge, but also, (and even more worrying) dangerous sexual predators looking for fresh prey, can purchase a minicab, complete with TfL licence roundels, without holding a PH driver's or operator's licence and in the case of sexual predators, go straight out and look for fresh victims. 

How hard would it be to produce these?

Taxi drivers have to have a purpose built vehicle, carrying both a registration number plate from the DVLA and also a TfL Hackney Carriage plate, plus we are also required to have our badge number emblazoned on the ID card identifying the driver. 

Acting as a Minicab driver, is the most favoured method of a sexual predictor (according to Rachel Griffin of the Susie Lamplugh  trust). Currently, TFL's Minicabs are only required to have an unreadable yellow disc, in most cases obscured by blacked out windows. 

Considering the security status we currently find ourselves in, it should be imperative that only TfL registered drivers should be allowed to drive minicabs. 

The drivers of minicabs should themselves be identifiable and should be matchable to a particular vehicle by means of their badge number, clearly displayed on front and rear windows.

If TfL can easily mandate Credit Cards in all London Taxis, then they must be able to mandate that licensed Minicabs can only be sold to licensed drivers, with the caveat that any person driving a minicab must hold a PH licence. 

This won't stop the attacks and rapes but it will make identify the attacker easier.  

Silent Sadiq Khant:

Our hypocrite of a Mayor, the one who refuses to meet with the Taxi trade orgs has recently written to the Home Secretary demanding more resources to protect against "marauding terrorist attacks". 

And yet Under Khan, TfL and the Met turn a blind eye to TfL registered minicabs (which could be bought and driven by anyone) parked up and waiting at all major mainline stations. 

TfL recently announced that PH driver numbers exceeded 117,000. 

#UberRape

A recent FOI request has shown that Sexual assaults including rapes in just Uber cars, has increased from 32, by a record 50% to 48 on the previous year. That's almost 1 a week.

Assuming Uber are no worse than other PH drivers, and currently make up approx 20% of the PH trade, going on the law of average, there could be many serious sexual attacks weekly across London. 

On top of this, you also have the unlicensed predators.

Yet our licensing authority seem more concerned with Taxi drivers, over ranking at main line stations!!!

Compliance teams regularly turn a blind eye to PH and in many cases are regularly overstepping their authority. 

Taxi Leaks have recently received a number of complaints from drivers who say they have been told by COs at Euston, they are going to be reported for wearing their badges on lanyards that are too long.

 

So it's ok for a terrorist to park outside a major rail link, but Taxi drivers mustn't wear their lanyards too long!!!

Since when have TFL's COs become fashion police?

Could someone from TfLTPH please show me where in the legislation or regulations it gives the required length of Lanyards because I can't find it in any Hackney carriage act of in the Abstract of Law.

Many COs are refusing to show drivers their authorisation ID cards, after showing the driver just their sherif style badge (they are legally obliged to show their ID).

Drivers have also been asked to unscrew their insurance cover notes so COs can examine more closely.

This is totally ridiculous behaviour from TFL's COs and totally unacceptable. 

Remember, always ask to see a COs authorisation card and photograph it with your phone (you have the right to do this). Should the CO refuse, then do not comply with any of his/her requests.

Also, if asked to sign their hand held PDA, you have the right to refuse.

The training given to these officers from TfL is inefficient and woefully inadequate. Most of this new batch of COs haven't got a clue what act or regulation they are supposedly trying to enforce.

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Our demand for a Statutory Public Inquiry into TfL is defined in these articles.

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Key Uber Employee Leaves the Embattled Tech Company In Yet Another Sex Scandal

The Uber manager who headed Susan Fowler’s department has departed

AG Gangadhar ran the engineering unit where the former female engineer — whose blog post on sexism sparked recent investigations — worked.

AG Gangadhar, was the director of the department buffeted by an allegation of sexual harassment and discrimination.

Five months ago, ex-Uber engineer Susan J. Fowler published a blog post, in which she said she had repeatedly complained about sexual harassment and discrimination at the ride-sharing company, but was ignored or punished. In the post, 

Fowler also said she had requested to transfer out of her department but, “according to my manager, his manager, and the director, my transfer was being blocked” due to undocumented performance problems. 

In reality, she claims she had a perfect performance score and there hadn’t been any complaints about her performance.

In addition, emails obtained indicate that engineers within Fowler’s department complained to higher-ups that Gangadhar and a subordinate manager were ignoring Fowler’s issues with another manager who had allegedly sexually harassed her.

“Multiple people are pissed off about this stuff being swept under the rug and not being taken more seriously that a new [lady engineer] was sexually harassed by a former manager,” read one email sent to Uber CTO Thuan Pham’s former executive assistant. That person later responded that Pham was aware of the situation and would discuss it with human resources.

That manager who Fowler claimed harassed her was fired five months after she first complained about him to human resources.

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The APPG On Taxis Report, Lessons From London : The Future Of The UK Taxi Trade

You can read the report here

The APPG on Taxis today launched their comprehensive report Lessons from London: the future of the UK taxi trade after a three month investigation led by its Chair Wes Streeting MP. It calls on the Government to give the Mayor of London the power to cap the number of Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs) on London’s streets, stop cross border hiring, and set out a robust set of minimum licensing standards for taxis and PHVs across the country.

The pollution and congestion on London’s streets is no long sustainable, with nearly 9,500 deaths each year caused by long term exposure to air pollution and congestion on the rise due to the massive increase in PHVs on London’s streets – now standing at 120,000 according to Transport for London. To limit the increasing numbers of PHVs and improve congestion and air quality, the Mayor of London has asked Government for the power to cap PHVs as part of his recently launched Mayor’s Transport Strategy.

This cap in London will be ineffective without the Government acting to stop ‘cross border hiring’, as PHV drivers could simply avoid it by being licensed in neighbouring authorities such as Watford. Councils across the country are currently unable to effectively regulate who operates in their area due to the Deregulation Act 2015. When Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council tried to institute tough new licensing regulations last year in the aftermath of the child grooming scandal, they found that taxi and PHV drivers could avoid them by being licenced in neighbouring authorities and then legally operating in Rotherham. 

The report makes a number of recommendations, including calling on the Government to:

• Grant the Mayor of London and any other Mayors or combined authorities who request it, the power to cap the number of PHVs;
• Create a statutory definition of cross border hiring whereby a journey must “begin or end in the licensing authority where the licence was issued”;
• Consult on statutory guidance for taxi and PHV licensing and set out a robust set of minimum licensing standards for all licensing authorities.

You can read the report by clicking here

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Back in 2014, clause 10 was dropped from the deregulation bill that went through parliament. 

This would reflect the view that all over the UK, (except in London according to TfL) there is a massive public safety issue, and that only licensed private hire drivers should be driving licensed private hire vehicles. 

Unfortunately for the traveling public in, TfL say that anyone can currently drive a private hire minicab around the capital, whether they are licensed or not. 

This includes people who just want to avoid paying the congestion charge, but also (and even more worrying) dangerous sexual predators looking for fresh prey can purchase a TfL licensed minicab without holding a PH drivers licence.

Even though the Taxi trade have to have a purpose built vehicle, carrying both a registration number plate from the DVLA and also a TfL Hackney Carriage plate, plus we are also required to have our badge number emblazoned on the ID card identifying the driver. 

And yet, the most favoured method of a sexual predictor (namely a licensed minicab driven by an unlicensed driver) is only required to have an unreadable yellow disc, in most cases obscured by blacked out or tinted glass. 

Considering the security status we currently find ourselves in, it should be imperative that only TfL registered drivers should be allowed to drive minicabs. 

The PH drivers themselves should also be identifiable and should be matchable to a particular vehicle by means of their badge number, clearly displayed on front and rear windows.

If it's good enough for Taxis...then it's good enough for PH. 

TfL recently announced that PH driver numbers currently exceeded 117,000. A recent FOI request has shown that Sexual assaults including rapes in just Uber cars has increased by a record 50% on the previous year.

And yet our licensing authority seem more concerned with Taxi drivers, over ranking at main line stations. 

Compliance teams turn a blind eye to PH while in many cases are regularly overstepping their authority. 

Taxi Leaks have received recent complaints from drivers who say they have been told by COs at Euston, they are going to be reported for wearing their badges on lanyards that are too long. 

Many COs are refusing to show drivers their authorisation ID cards, after show the driver just their sherif style badge (they are legally obliged to show their ID). 

Driver have also been asked to unscrew their insurance cover notes so COs can examine more closely.

This is totally ridiculous behaviour from COs and totally unacceptable.   

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Oxford city council targets it's 107 licensed taxis to cut emissions

Oxford city council plans to phase out older taxis from operating within the city, and will look to invest over £500,000 for the installation of dedicated electric car charging points, it has announced today (11 July).

The investment forms part of a wider plan to reduce air pollutant emissions within the city, after it was revealed that air quality improvements in Oxford have begun to slow down after improvements made following the introduction of a Low Emission Zone in 2014 (see airqualitynews.com story).

Changes to licensing requirements for taxis operating in Oxford are expected to come into effect from 2018

The city council is working with the City of Oxford Licensed Taxicab Association (COLTA) on the scheme, which will see 19 electric vehicle charging points installed for the exclusive use of hackney and private hire taxis. The council’s aim is to install the first seven in 2018, and the remaining 12 in 2019.

The council has also announced its intention to set an age limit on all hackney carriages operating in Oxford of 18 years and require all newly-licenced hackney carriages to be ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) – with licensing changes expected to come into effect from the end of 2018.

Public health

Councillor John Tanner, executive board member for a clean and green Oxford, said: “Oxford has illegal levels of air pollution in some parts of the city, which is affecting the health of residents. Every vehicle in Oxford is contributing to this major public health emergency.

“We are working with the county council on plans to introduce a Zero Emission Zone from 2020, which will restrict access to Oxford city centre for emitting vehicles, and will go a long way to getting air pollution below legal limits. This new scheme will provide the electric vehicle charging infrastructure to help get Oxford’s hackney cabs ready for 2020.”

The charging points will be ‘rapid’ and ‘fast’ chargers to enable drivers to quickly charge batteries during breaks, according to the council.

Charging points

The locations will be finalised following consultation with drivers, but potential locations include Oxford Rail Station, Gloucester Green, London Road, Cowley Road, St Giles, Summertown car park, and Redbridge and Seacourt park and rides.

The city council was awarded £370,000 of funding from the Government’s Office for Low Emissions Vehicles for the project. It will also seek to secure the remaining funding from private investment.

It is hoped that the infrastructure and licensing changes will see nitrogen dioxide emissions from Oxford’s 107 licenced hackney carriages reduce by 50% by 2020.

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