Hackney driver says unlimited granting of taxi licences in Ellesmere Port could put cabbies out of work

A CABBIE says drivers will be put out of business if restrictions on Hackney cabs in Ellesmere Port and Neston are lifted.

Last week Cheshire West and Chester Council launched a questionnaire asking drivers and members of the public to respond to questions with a view to making taxi rules in the borough more uniform.

Robin Miller, a hackney cab driver from Ellesmere Port, insists getting rid of the limit on the number of hackney cabs able to ply their trade in Ellesmere Port and Neston will spread the same amount of trade over more drivers.

Mr Miller said: “What they don’t seem to take into account is hackney cab drivers are dependant on a minimum amount of taxis.


“Every time the council issues another taxi licence, it depletes a taxi driver’s income.

“They have obliterated the taxi business.

As a result of deregulation of hackney cabs in Chester, nine drivers have gone bankrupt.

Another one to Deregulate??

Cabbies in Leeds are spearheading a national petition against a proposed deregulation of the trade which they say could cost hundreds of drivers their jobs and reduce the quality of service in the city.

The Government is currently considering scrapping Section 16 of the Transport Act 1985 – which allows councils to limit the number of hackney carriages in their local authority area based on supply and demand – as part of a review of ancient taxi laws.

The change would open up the trade and, say campaigners, hit jobs, service quality and even the environment hard.

Leeds currently has 537 licensed hackney carriages, and the numbers are reviewed regularly.

There are, additionally, around 5,000 private hire licences in operation in the city.

Paul Landau, who chairs the Leeds Hackney Carriage branch of Unite The Union, said the worst knock-on effect would be on night-shift drivers who don’t have a car of their own but lease one from a colleague, or licence ‘proprietor’, on a ‘double shifted’ basis.

“If Section 16 is repealed under this new legislation, the restriction on numbers of taxis in Leeds and other cities will be lifted and anybody could go along to the licensing department and say ‘I would like a hackney licence’ and go to work,” Mr Landau said.

“In Leeds you could see the numbers triple overnight, or go higher.

“The potential for mass unemployment is huge.

“In Leeds we could see anywhere up to 500 jobs lost instantly in the Hackney sector.”

Mr Landau said other cities where the hackney trade was de-regulated had been forced to cap numbers again because of the pressure it was a putting on drivers. He added a “massive influx” of new taxis would also increase the city’s pollution levels.

LTI - The UK Black Cab maker issues profit warning

Manganese Bronze, the firm which makes the distinctive London taxi, has said it made no profit in 2011 and could fall short of expectations for the current year.

The group blamed the weak UK economy, uncertainty over the global economic outlook and a delay in fulfilling an order for 1,000 taxis from Azerbaijan.

The firm sold 1,502 taxis in the UK last year, compared with 1,653 in 2010, a fall of 9.1%, it said.

But overseas sales were much stronger.

The company sold 705 vehicles compared with 226 in 2010.

'Lower sales'

In March last year, the firm secured a $27m (£18m) order from Azerbaijan - its single largest order to date.

However, a delay in shipping the second half of this order, which was meant to be dispatched in October, means the company will not record a profit in 2011.

"The overall impact of lower UK sales and a delayed fulfilment of the Azerbaijan order will prevent the group from achieving a profitable result for the year ended 31 December 2011," the company said in a statement.

It had previously said it expected to return to profit last year.

"Whilst a proportion of this shortfall should be recovered when the delayed Azerbaijan sales are recorded in 2012, any continued softening of global economic conditions would mean that the group is likely to fall short of meeting expectations for the current year," the statement continued.

Chinese car group Geely owns 20% of Manganese, which switched production from Coventry to China as part of its restructuring.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16465659