Issue - meetings

To review and adopt the proposed increase of the Hackney Carriage Vehicle Table of Fares.

Members considered the Proposed Increase to Current Hackney Carriage Vehicle - Table of Maximum Fares report presented by Councillor Hoy.

Councillor Boden said members would note the recommendations within the report stated that Council is being recommended to approve the proposals within Appendix A, however, for the avoidance of doubt, this recommendation should read that Cabinet approve the proposals. Quoting relevant paragraphs within the constitution, Councillor Boden requested that the recommendation therefore be amended so the word ‘Council’ is replaced with the word ‘Cabinet’.  Members approved the recommendation.

Councillor Hoy said that along with the published report, members had been tabled some items. One was a letter that she presumed had been duplicated and circulated as multiple copies had been received signed by residents. Also, there was a similar letter from hackney carriage drivers and a written statement from Councillor Patrick. Councillor Hoy said that because the additional information had been received less than an hour ago, she felt compelled to address the issue of process.

Councillor Hoy pointed out the report recommendations were agreed at Licensing Committee, where Councillor Patrick’s group are represented under political proportionality and had agreed with Conservative members on the recommendations. It was a shame that any concerns with the report were not raised by members of his group at that time, neither was she contacted directly by Councillor Patrick or any taxi drivers to make their complaints about the increase.  

Councillor Hoy advised that it was the taxi trade themselves that requested the rise and Councillor Patrick also put in a proposal for a rise. In his proposal, she recalls he wanted the flag to go from £4 to £5, a 25% increase, whereas Licensing Committee’s proposal of £4 to £4.40 was cheaper. She said that this leaves Cabinet in a bizarre situation where they have a request for a fee increase asked for by the taxi trade, which Councillor Patrick fed into whilst also requesting an increase, and now he is saying he does not want an increase.

Councillor Hoy pointed out that she is not a taxi driver, and she rarely uses them because if she needs one it tends to be in an evening when there are none available. The drivers she has spoken to suggest that one of the many reasons that people are not joining the trade is because it is too costly for them; this is something she understands as what driver would want to leave their home on a Friday evening for the sake of a £4.60 fare for example? She can understand the logic of increasing the fares to allow for that, but it must be remembered that Fenland District Council are not increasing the fares, they are increasing the maximum amount that can be charged by taxi drivers. When people are saying that this Council is increasing the fares, this is being done to make a political point and to try and stir up ammunition, therefore she would like to talk through the tabled items.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14