Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to Elizabeth Jackson, Principal Democratic Services Officer, elizabeth.jackson@northyorks.gov.uk and supplied the text by midday on Wednesday 1 May 2024, three working days before the day of the meeting. Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item. Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:
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Minutes:
A public question was received from Mr Richard Fieldman in relation to Minute 442 – Review of Maximum Hackney Carriage Fares as follows:
As representative of 70 drivers in the trade, I am here today to object to the proposed tariff increase you see before you today.
As Mr Bentley will testify, the proven fare formula that was previously used by Harrogate Borough council, and also Transport for London, in determining an increase needed for the taxi trade in order to keep up with the increase in annual expenses and cost of living, showed we needed an increase of 5%.
The trade therefore requested that increase across the board. We were happy with the initial flagfall to remain as is, on tariffs 1,2, and 3, but requested the 5% on the running mile, and the waiting time on all of those three tariffs, as well as an increase on the callout charge, from £1 per mile to £2 per mile.
What you see before you today is totally unacceptable for those that work nights, and the unsocial xmas period. The proposal gives no increase to those working these hours, which less and less drivers are prepared to work these days.
The proposal is to bring tariff 2 in at 10pm, from the current 11pm at present. This will have minimal effect of an increase for those who only work nights, and those that are prepared to sacrifice their xmas with their family, to give the public a service during a festive, alcoholic holiday.
It is ironic that officers recognise that drivers need rewarding for late night unsocial hours, filled with abusive, alcohol and drug fuelled customers, yet are failing to provide them with the same increase as the daytime drivers. Night time work since covid is split into two categories, those that go out early evening for meals, usually going home between 8.30/9pm, and those that are out for a long drinking session, going home from 11pm onwards, the work between 10pm-11pm is minimal, so that proposal will give very little benefit to those working night hours.
The callout charge has been at a £1 per mile for many years, and as well as increased fuel costs, it has become unviable in a vast rural county, to travel many miles to pick a customer up, to take them a minimal distance, and therefore drivers are refusing to do these types of journey, leaving many customers stranded in the middle of nowhere, unable to get home.
It is absolutely imperative that you reject this proposal if you wish to see adequate coverage of drivers working nights and the xmas period. Areas such as Ripon, Thirsk, Northallerton, and Skipton, are massively short of drivers working these times, and if you accept this proposal you will be ensuring even less cover in these areas, as you are not allowing them the increase they need, not only to run their businesses successfully, but to put up with the abuse, and difficult customers they experience during these antisocial hours.
The trade feel they have been very reasonable in what they asked for, and therefore I ask you to respect the difficult job they do during these hours, and accept a 5% increase on the running mile and waiting time on all 3 tariffs, increase the running mile to £2 per mile, and leave tariff 2 to come in at 11pm.
I thank you for your consideration.
Councillor Barbara Brodigan was also in attendance at the meeting and made a statement in support of Mr Fieldman’s statement as below:
I would like to bring to the Executive's attention a similar situation experienced by Barnsley Council regarding taxi tariffs and its potential implications for our area. As you may be aware, Barnsley Council conducted an independent demand survey six months ago in preparation for implementing new tariffs for taxis. Following implementation of revised tariffs for daytime taxis services a further survey revealed a concerning trend: there were no taxis or a shortage of taxis at night or during holiday periods because it was not financially viable for drivers to operate during these times.
Given the potential for similar outcomes, I would ask that the Executive considers a cross-the-board increase of 5% for tariffs 2 and 3. This adjustment could help mitigate the risk of a shortage of taxi services during nighttime hours and Christmas holidays and would ensure that drivers are adequately compensated for their work.
By taking this step, we can maintain a reliable and accessible taxi service for our residents and visitors, particularly during times of increased demand. I am confident that this step will contribute positively to our local transportation infrastructure.
Councillor Greg White thanked Mr Fieldman and Councillor Brodigan for their statements and responded as follows. the first thing I want to stress is that any decision today is to be subject to a statutory consultation, this is the start of the process. As well as some people asking for maximum charges to be increased further, we’ve also had people in other parts of the county saying that they would quite like to see them go in the other direction because they're not competitive with neighbouring areas. In terms of the comparison that Councillor Brodigan made taxi rates in North Yorkshire are already about 70% higher than they are in South Yorkshire and I'm looking at a chart here which compares North Yorkshire and Barnsley. A three mile trip in Barnsley would be £8.90 whereas in North Yorkshire it's £14.98, nearly £15, so we're already substantially higher than Barnsley. So you're probably quite right there probably are people in Barnsley that think the taxi rate should go up but it doesn't really compare to North Yorkshire because we're already significantly more expensive than that particular town and you know we are more expensive than Bradford, Durham, East Riding, Lancaster, Leeds, Redcar and Cleveland and York. We have already got the most expensive taxis in in in the surrounding area when it comes to that nighttime rate. So I'm really keen that we don't get to a situation where we actually do an injustice to the people who use the taxi service by making it that those taxis become completely unaffordable. Like I said all of this will be subject to statutory consultation once the Executive makes its decision today.
Mr Fieldman and Councillor Brodigan then made supplementary statements referring to the higher licensing fee in North Yorkshire and the higher cost of living which leads to higher taxi fares. Councillor White responded that taxi charges were higher in North Yorkshire than in York, however the cost of living was similar. He also added that the licence fee charge reflected the cost of providing the service and only represented a small proportion of the expenses of a taxi driver.