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The first meeting of the newly formed North Tyneside Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Licensing forum was held today at the Cobalt Business Park, Silverlink North.
It was agreed that the forum would be chaired by North Tyneside Council.
Members of the Forum included Ian Shanks,David Wilson,Alan Fiddler,David Walls,Marvyn Fereday,Paul barton,Bob Sneddon and several other representatives of the North Tyneside Hackney & Private Hire trade. I believe this to be a fair mix of both sides of the trade on North Tyneside.
Items covered were: Frequency of meetings,topics for future discussion i.e. vehicle specifications,enforcement issues and cctv to name a few. It was decided to have another meeting at the beginning of November when Northumbria Police and Disability awareness representatives will also be in attendance.
All in all I think it was a good start to a positive working relationship with North Tyneside Council and all sides of the trade but time will tell.
Possibly Related Posts:
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- Cambridge Taxi Share + New York Taxi Share
- Staffordshire Taxi drivers must pass English test
- Blackburn with Darwen two-tier system for cabs is axed
- List of councils most effected by the new taxi WAV provisions of the Equalities Bill 2010.
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
bring back ian shanks,a succsessful operator,maybe the rest of us could learn something
Hello everybody peeples,
Sietnav here again. I has to tell you I make beeg mistake I writing article for Up Yours tacski magazine and I has run out of the papers. Meester Shank he tell me go and find a little sheet and I come back with Meester Wilson. I not understand I am plumb in my country I fix the pipe of meester shank he give me cheap rents on my car. I will tell all the peoples on forum about this lovely meester shank he make everybody have good living.
Hello Dave
I am glad you have the same opinion as me about “weekend Warriors”, you get sick of them running from a well paid regular job on a Friday night to grab the first Taxi/PH they can get there hands on, a few I know don’t pay Tax, they think they pay enough with their 1st Job!
They don’t help this slow stage we are going through, if they had sense they would deliver Chinese takeaways instead!!!, so no!, I would’nt like to see these at your Forum.
Anyway, thank you for calling me a “dog” in a recent post, Dogs love Sausages you know!!
Regards
Sietnav Eisnogud
I am strongly object to Meester Wallis him say only proper rioter can be on these forum. Thees no
right cos Meester Shanks him I give you car and you make plenty money in my country. I come from Polski and I support many children some of them want to taxki drivers when they get passport.
I can make ideas about taxkis i pay good rent meester shank I come to forum not make trouble for him.
Yuo listem my voice here now. Thenkyou.
@Stephen Arthur,It’s a ‘Licensing forum’. It hasn’t even had a first meeting to discuss anything other than it’s own future agenda! This is proof that the trade is it’s own worst enemy as we have bickered on about this for some weeks now and we havn’t even seen what it can achieve.
@Hackney Carriage Driver, TooManyTaxis is behind you 100% and if you get such video evidence we would be happy to post it here and e-mail all licensing officers & Councillors a Link so they can view it for themselves. A vehicle splashed some kids at a bus stop and videoed the prank and posted it on YouTube. Now the driver of the car is looking to be prosecuted. If they can prosecute a prank like that on video evidence then why not flimpers.
I’ll have one of what you have had Stephen.
Hackney Carriage Driver!
Hello
It appears that two members of this Forum who feel that they are “Investors” and “stakeholders” in the Trade, have totally forgot the mess that we are encountering with the Berwick cars that are still at large, the two members of this NT Forum think that they work for Northern Rock or HSBC, not a North Tyneside Hack feathering his own nest and some retired dude from Berwick Council who is trying to escape the destruction that he has caused down here!!!
One thing I will correct you on is your comment on North Tyneside Cars in town, I think you mean North Tyneside BASED cars in the Town!, with infamous green and white Plates or all red Plates on!…Well, stuck in the back window!
“A Bird will only build it’s own nest, it will not try and re-arrange the Tree”
And sadly Hackney Carriage Driver, we have two Birds at this Forum at least, that being Mr Walls and Mr Wilson the ex Berwick Licensing Officer.
Regards
And on that basis, surely the Committee could have given the new forum the opportunity to comment on perhaps one of the most contentious issues in the trade across the country.
Other than that, spot on David.
A consultative body is just that. Pity the House of Commons pays so much attention to DPTAC – the advisory body for the disabled and their transport needs which, strange to relate, has been operating for 13 years without any representation from the taxi trade – the people who actually try to meet their needs.
Ah well – plus ca change.
@David Wilson, I’m not a member of your Fan Club but I think you hit the nail on the head there! Shall we just sit back and see where this opportunity takes us…
It’s so nice to see that, when I’m not posting comments on the site, you revert to fighting amongst yourselves!
Just in case it’s become wholly overlooked, can I remind everyone that this thread was about the newly formed Taxi Forum; and not who has the greatest knowledge, insight into the trade or the highest academic or vocational qualifications?
Previously I said I didn’t want to be “categorised” and, whilst that remains true, can I suggest to everyone (whether you attended the first meeting of the Taxi Forum or not) that none of us who attended (or attend in the future) should be categorised as being “a Member of the Taxi Forum”, but simply described as being people who attended a meeting?
The forum is not a decision-making body.
The forum will not make recommendations to Committee.
The forum is nothing more than a means for the council to conduct effective and meaningful consultation with a range of “stakeholders” and “interest groups” on a range of issues relating to taxi licensing.
The comments of all will be reported back to Committee to assist it in making “informed decisions”. That’s not to say everyone (or anyone) will be pleased with everything (or anything) the Committee decides in the future, but at least the decision should have been made by councillors who were in full possession of the facts! That’s all this forum can ever be expected to achieve.
Anyone, who believes the forum to be more important than that, is deluded by their own self-importance as a “Member of the Taxi Forum”.
The 2004 guidance Mr.Fiddler refers to was ripped to shreds by a government select committee.
The Committee and the Survey of Demand.
It is not a question of whether I believe anyone other than HC proprietors has a legitimate interest in the matter; it is a question of North Tyneside Council ignoring the advice contained in the Department for Transport’s Guidance on the matter.
The Guidance, issued in June 2004, sets out clearly the ‘interests’ the Department believes should be consulted at intervals of not more than about three years IF a council wishes to go against the Department and government’s view that limits on HC plate numbers were/are against the consumers interests – for which read the travelling public.
The list of consultees, some of whom were prominently missing in the responses quoted in the Halcrow Report, includes a lot more than the self-interested members of the existing trade.
The council should have conducted a further survey in 2007 and did not. When challenged it merely asserted an intention to do so after the conclusion of the interminable (it seemed) review of general policy.
Now, 2 years later, we have a report which was commissioned to include a vast array of data collected on a wide range of issues unrelated to the ‘demand’ for the services of HC’s.
The Demand survey is flawed in a number of respects but now that will be a matter for another day.
A report which was 2 years late, is already out of date when presented (survey done in September 2008 before the efects of the credit crunch).
The Council will need to conduct another Survey in 2011 which will be paid for by all of us – including the Private Hire sector.
Perhaps King’s Ransom would care to suggest that the costs of the next survey are borne only by the HC proprietors. If that’s OK by you the Council can add about another £60 to the cost of your plate for the next two years to meet the £13,000 the latest offering cost us all and provide for another.
The Boston Tea Party was prompted over the issue of ‘no taxation without representation’
A 100 plus pages report, issued at six days notice, requires a little more consideration than it received.
Bulldozing it through the Regulation and Review Committee
may be to the liking of those who claim to have the sole legitmate interest in its alleged findings. Well you may be disappointed to find that a number of others are not content to have a questionable series of assertions accepted by a body which has legal obligations to respond to.
The Report’s authors stated that they were unaware of any current or impending legislation which would have any impact on the subject of their report. Well, which planet are they living on? I suggest they invest a few shillings of our money in the latest offering from Ms Harperson – the Equalities Bill, currently at Committee stage in the House of Commons.
Now if you really want a nightmare, take a look a look at that little gem.
Finally, I have no personal opinion or eveidence on whether there are objective and sustainable reasons why a limit on HC numbers is in the public interest. Neither do I believe members of the Regulation and Review committee would have found them in the latest ‘tome’ paid for by the trade, not the Council.
@Andy Warhol, I might be wrong andy but I think they decided to make the newsletter quarterly and Newcastle City Council has taken on the task of editing and publishing the newsletter from now on. I have been assured,by a Newcastle forum member that the new format newsletter will be sent for inclusion in this wbsite.
@alkan fiddler,mr fidler why would the regulation and review committee ask the forum to comment on an independant survey which has nothing to do with anyone but hackney carriage proprietors.the last survey was ignored and look at the damage its done to the hack trade!! and dont bleat on about ian shanks or anyone else having an interest,multi plate holders only have an interest in lining their pockets,they make a comfortable living off renting private hire vehicles out
I have always believed that David Walls expresses his honest beliefs, which, however far they might be at odds with my own, were his opinion of the best interests of all those working in the taxi trades – well perhaps not all.
David has now stated in the seemingly never-ending saga of who was/should/could have been invited to join the new Taxi trade Forum – which is a purely consultative body – that Private Hire drivers (not owning their own vehicle) should not be represented in that body.
Well David, when you were representing the members of a
trade union in the bus industry did you have shares in the bus company or own your own bus?
As an example of an anti-democratic sentiment that must take the biscuit – a TAXI perhaps!
At the initial meeting of the forum I made it clear that comments suggesting the body was somehow ‘unbalanced’ would lead us down the road of arid chasing after a mathematical balance, which would certainly not be to the advantage of the person who had expressed concerns about the balance of representation at the initial meeting. As the Forum was convened on the basis of voluntary attendance it was not going to be, except by pure chance, numerically reprresenattive of the various interests in the trade.
At this stage it is too early to suggest that the body is ‘unrepresentative’. More volunteers could be accommodated before the body would become too unwieldy.
In David’s latest contribution I am reminded of Monty Python’s ‘Four Yorkshiremen’ sketch.
‘Luxury – we had to get up in the morning, half an hour before we went to bed, ………..work 28 hours a day ‘on the circuit’ and pay’t operator for permission to come to work to drive t’tcar. And without any representation.
The prospects for the Forum took a hit last week when the the Regulation and Review Committee refused to submit the findings of the consultants, to the Forum for comment, before considering the results of the much delayed Survey of Unmet demand.
So much for the kind words in the new policy adopted in April this year about consultation and listening to those interested in the work of the committee.
speaking of forums, any idea why there hasnt been a ‘monthly’ update from newcastle hack forum for 2 month now?
i only know a couple of faces from the forum and only see them in passing, very rarely on the rank.
wonder if you had any idea.
@David Walls, OK! so why is David Wilson there?
@Stephen Arthur,How many times does it have to be said? It’s open to all,if you think the mix is unfair step up! and make it more balanced.You can’t keep coming here spouting on about an ‘unfair mix’ Those that could be bothered and didn’t bin their letters are the people who care about their business, coming onto a website repeating the same thing is not very helpful Stephen, when even you could be a forum member, NTC offered everyone the same chance. Anyway which part of the mix would you be? as you have been Berwick, NTPH & latterly NT Hack and even though you have tried your hand at all of these…in my opinion you will never make a Taxi driver as long as your arse points down.
Well said MB 27, your a Toon driver and you still see a unfair mix at this Forum!
@MB 27, Everyone with a north tyneside licence had the opportunity to put themselves forward for membership of the forum. The lack of response is to blame if there is anybody sitting round that table that the trade think should not be there. Like everything else lots of people shout after the fact but if they really wanted to be heard they would have answered the invitation and been sat at that table where their voice has the opportunity to be heard. I know for a fact that one or two new members have been accepted who are NTPH drivers. So now the PH drivers,Hack drivers,Operators, Trade associations & 1 ‘Other’ are all represented. I will also say that pen,paper & e-mail do exist and if anyone has any grievance you do not have to be on a forum to voice your opinions. If anyone feels strongly enough about anything trade/licensing related, let them know! otherwise they think everything is sweet and they will take it as read that the operators present at the forum are the voice of the PH trade.
Well Chaps I’m back!! Hope you have all been keeping well and can I say I like the new site.
Now down to business. Well said upset NT driver. I totaly agree that the members of the forum are a joke and unfair.
And I also believe that there is Two members on that forum (not mentioning names as I’ll just get wrong)that not so long ago were trying their best to line their pockets and shaft the ligit drivers of Newcastle and North tyneside by issueing badges to and suplying datas to anyone they wanted regardless of the affects it would have on the trade. Yet now they want to work with the drivers of North tyneside hmmmmm I’m confused because if they are working with and on behalf of the NT drivers what are their policys on the use of out of town plates???? Have they changed or do they still believe that locality tests and the regulation of plates is the wrong way to do things and that we need to move into the 20th century be getting rid of the tests and regulations and allow anyone with a drivers licence to get plated so we can end up the same as the drivers in Dublin.
However I do agree on the use of cctv in taxis an PHV but I believe that the cctv system should be fitted by the local counci who issue the plate for that vehicle as soon as the vehicle passes the test. Then the local council can say that they are looking out for the drivers and members of the public, the drivrs can feel a little safer when trying to do their jobs, the public will feel safer when entering the vehicle and the enforcement team and police would have solid evidence to prove flimping or blame at any incident that takes place with in the vehicle.
For the avoidance of doubt let me clarify a few matters
1) I am not employed in any way by BLT – I have known and worked with (not for) Ian Shanks, who I regard as a long time friend, for the past 7 years.
ii) I have known David Wilson since October 2006, mostly by telephone contact. Presently, since David left the employment of NCC/Berwick, I have worked with him on a number of issues elsewhere. David has assisted me in cases in Barnsley, Halifax, Stockton on Tees, Cheshire and Scunthorpe.
iii) In some instances we are working together and in others I have passed to him issues for which David has particular experience, as you might pass on a fare you could not accommodate.
iv) As for my own business, it involves work across the country on issues related to licensing and council’s relations with the trade – both Hackney carriage and PHV.
v) However humorous some corespondents may intend to be, I caution anyone about inferring that persons are associated with particular groups of whatever hue.
The odious views of some are permitted exposure by virtue of our democratic system which allows freedom to all;a freedom which certain groups would deny to others, by reference to the colour of their skin or their professed political or religous beliefs. Take a trip to Auschwitz and then look for humour in these peoples’ policies- BNP etc.
vi) As stated by many previous correspondents, an invitation to participate in the new Taxi Forum was mailed to every NTC licnce holder of which I am one of the Combined Badge holders, working at EastCoast (as most people know).
As with the recent opinion survey (well, November last year)conducted as part of the ‘Unmet demand ‘ exercise, the response was to say the least disappointing – less than 11% of the trade and many more proportionatelty from the Hackney side than the PHV the latter of course are numerically 4/5 times greater – if the PHV side is not represented to anyone’s liking then do something about it.
Write to Mrs Joanne Lee and ask to be advised of the next meeting. We are not at the stage where we need to book St James Park to accommodate all those wishing to participate.
Why does every discussion topic end in abuse. Upset NT driver, why don’t you start your own constructive
discussion on a topic and see how many respond.
This thread is about CCTV in taxis not let’s have ago against people you are obviously jealous of.
I can be just as critical as anyone both potentiall here and elsewhere but I know where my bread is buttered.
Going back to the original discussion which was abou CCTV’s IN TAXIS IN NORTH TYNESIDE
I understand I will be the first to install such a system. But be warned, you need
to register as a data user under the Data Protection Act.
That will cost you £35 per man. Also I spoke with AN today and had a discussion which was very positive.
I think it is useful to engage in meaningful discussion than to slag off authorities.
But you can’t sherk from the Data Protection issue -
you can’t take pictures or images of people without
their consent or prior authorisation by the
Data Protection Commissioner – no exemptions in our case.
Admin,
Personally I’d prefer not to be categorised, because I don’t think my contributions will be (or should be) limited to private hire matters, just because I’m retained by Blue Line to provide advice and assistance to the firm and its drivers.
After all, much to “Upset NT Driver’s” annoyance, I do have some history of hackney carriage licensing too.
However, above all else, I hope this Forum provides an opportunity for the trade (and I’d prefer for the two sections to consider themselves to be one) to achieve the changes (or at least some of them) that it wants for the better.
There were 13 of us present on Monday and, if nothing else, there was agreement as to what needed to be discussed. I’m sure there will be different views expressed about some of those items, but I’d also hope that some would attract unanimous agreement.
However, most importantly, this is not a Forum at which decisions are to be made or votes cast, but at which views are to be expressed and reported to councillors so that they can make informed decisions, rather than only being told what officers think.
As a former officer, I can accept officers don’t know everything, but similarly nor does the trade. It’s time to listen to each other (and I mean everyone, not each side!) and to talk to North Tyneside Council.
@Upset NT Driver, Stephen, I see you havn’t lost your knack for being outragious,offensive and Tish stirring. The fact is that entry to the Forum was open to everyone.In the weeks running up to the time of the first meeting I spoke to many drivers who had received their letters and were asking me what it was all about. I explained to them and said they should reply to the letters but for most it was a non starter as they had already ‘Binned’ them. Anyone who is remotely interested in their trade would surely make an effort to be a part of this forum. Just because you don’t know some of the people now sitting on the forum does not make them unworthy. There ‘is’ a good mix and a lot of knowledgeable people were sitting around that table on Monday. Yes,there will be people who might hope to gain from it but is that not why any of us come to work. Things don’t happen in this world because people have a laugh on a website but they can happen when people sit down and talk with decision makers. So Lighten up a bit mate.
P.S. When the forum membership is finalised I will,with the permission of the members, provide a list of members and their respective positions within the two halves of the trade.
We have had some good Articles on here, especially the one from Pete Cooper, but this one regarding this “Forum” is priceless!!, to say the least!
SC asks, who picks the members?, Good question SC.
What makes me laugh is the members, lets re-iterate who they are!, Ian Shanks, David Wilson (P.M.S.L), Marvyn, Bob Sneddon, David Walls, Paul Barton and of course that old Alan Fiddler, the laughter comes from these words in the Article “I BELIEVE THIS TO BE A FAIR OF BOTH SIDES OF THE TRADE ON NORTH TYNESIDE”, eh what????
Ian Shanks – Well he is a business man who has only gained financially from this horrid mess we are in, he can’t have a side if he employs Berwick, South Tyneside, Newcastle, Castle Morpeth, Durham (FKA as Derwentside), Tynedale, the reason for all these interlopers is due to him not liking NT’s Licensing???, is this correct?
David Wilson – Where do you start about him, he is the “Cancer to the local properly Licensed Driver”, he has run all NT Drivers down financially, the behavior of some of the Drivers he has licensed has damaged the name of the trade and pushed travellers back to public transport or using their own Car, because of bad experiences they encountered in Berwick Licensed Cars, not to mention the amount he licensed either.
Paul Barton – Don’t know him but if he is NT PH, then he is a minority of the mentioned and that is not a fair mix!
Bob Sneddon – A North Tyneside Hack gang leader
Marvyn Fereday – Done his bit for NT Drivers, started this great site where folk can get things off their chest and people can find out informative bits and bobs, fair to say that he has the right to be at this forum, but once again a HACK!!!
Private Hire Drivers, Company car drivers, small operators where are you???
David Walls – Another Hack Driver hmmmm, this fair mix does’nt add up, he should have stayed at home and researched some more Transport acts etc
OK whats left….. Fiddler!
Alan Fiddler – He is like Nick Griffin leader of the BNP working part time for the “Hope not hate campaign” and “Show Rascism the red card organisation”, He Champions drivers and the Trade ???HAHA, yet he works at the big two, I am surprised he got to the forum and he was not elsewhere researching long winded words or working for David Wilson’s former best customers!!!!!!!!
I bet NT Council had a good chuckle!
Lets be fair, yes FAIR!!!!, no Offence please to any of you Guys but you are certainly not a fair mix are you, A big Operator, a ex Licensing Officer from a Council 70 miles away, a bunch of Hacks and some old bloke in a Blue Bus!!!!!
CRACKING!
Come on where are the NT PH?
Company Car Drivers who feel the downturn in business more than some!
Moderate size operators like Preston or Briardene?
Multiple Plate Holders
Berwick Drivers, could have shown up to express there beliefs.
Members of the Public who use Taxis and PH regularly??
Anyway this is my opinion and I don’t want to hear who earns more than who, who is experienced more than who etc, this is just a passing opinion.
Thank You
who picked the members of this forum?
Is the new forum aware that two South Tyneside Hacks are working out of Blueline as Private hire on North Tyneside.I thought this was not legal anymore.Is South Tyneside the new Berwick???
Hmmm…
If they don’t have a policy then how can they object
at the moment. Other local authorities are well into
CCTV and there doesn’t seem a problem. The one
I was looking at records onto an SD card. The card
holds about an hours worth of video but it isn’t
sealed as you suggest. It has panic mode with a
remote activation to set the video recording.
@NT Badgeholder, According to NTC you can have cctv but in another breath,so to speak,you cannot. So the answer is yes but they have not yet decided how it will operate. i.e. the system will most probably have to be a sealed hard disc type where images may only be viewed by the police etc and not the driver. I think if you install one off your own back you may be wasting your money if the system you install does not meet with NTC’s yet to be known criteria.
Re: North Tyneside Forum
Specifically with the use of CCTV in taxis/private hire vehicles
in North Tyneside.
This topic is listed as up for possible discussion
in the future within the forum.
But:
Is it OK to install recorded CCTV systems in taxis
in North Tyneside as there is no policy in place?
Do individual drivers need to be covered by
Data Protection. One cctv website says we don’t need
to because we are now covered by private use of
CCTV as in the home.
Anyone have any ideas because I’m thinking of
installing one.
Admin, I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments.
I am aware that there are outstanding posts and requests for further information from me in relation to other topics; and I will get around to responding to them as soon as I have the time to give those matters the attention they deserve.