Northampton Private Hire Association

16/02/2023

Private hire Association 24/01/23

1. - Apologies and Introductions - No apologies, The association welcome a new attendee, Jadoon from Crosstown.

2. - Minutes of last minutes signed off by K.W. & K.A.

3. - Police matters - Once again no representation from the police.

4. - WNC draft policy - Louise said that as a consequence of the drivers meeting the Guildhall a number of the drivers concerns had been taken into consideration and would be reflected in the draft policy v2. She thought the best best approach for the purpose of these minutes that she email me separately for clarity. The subject matter proved very contentious and a number considerations were aired by all.The main bone of contention appeared to be the issue of penalty points being issued against drivers that could easily be accrued and end in a suspension of his license or ultimately the loss of his livelihood. Jadoon and K.W. overview was that the document as a whole should be rejected and K.W. recommended that the policy document should be deferred and presented to the new licensing committee that will be in place after the up coming council elections in May.
Jadoon also comments that the proposal to give operators points for indiscretions that their drivers commit is totally ludicrous and should be revoked. All of our Association agree. The amendments will be shown at the end of these minutes.
Louise points out that the consultation period is 8 weeks and starts next week.

5. - S.R. update on L.P.H.C.A. - S.R. spoke at length to Steve Wright the chair of said association asking for his opinion and would he be willing to get involved in representing us on this matter. He said that the document was similar to many other licensing proposals from other authorities and he noted that essentially it is a Frankenstein cut and paste job done by the authors, he said that his association has represented a number of companies that have successfully challenged their authorities licensing proposal in other districts. He agreed initially to send a letter to WNC noting his interest in this matter of which he subsequently did. Clearly his services are not free and said he would like a considered approach from all in our association regarding subscriptions to his association. Bounds and Skyline are already members so he said if all other active members from our association pay £100 each he would be prepared to support us. Jadoon from Crosstown and Sat from County cars promptly paid S.W. and Mayfair and Amber will pay £50 each because their other £50 will come from association funds. S.R. will call Steve Wright for update.

7. - Report on WNC drop in meeting at Guildhall - The event was attended by at least a hundred private hire drivers, and there was only standing room. It was meant to be an ad hoc drop in service with a one to one discussion for the concerns of the drivers regarding the draft proposal. It was clear that it was almost impossible for Louise and Eleanor be able to conduct a rational conversation with so many opinions that wanted to be voiced. On the whole most of the driver concerns were voiced via S.W. who managed to convey a lot the driver concerns. Not all drivers concerns were allayed but they collectively behaved well and refrained from becoming the baying mob. S.R. asked Louise would it be possible for the drivers to able to lobby the members of the licensing committee to be able to offer them an insight into their concerns for not the trade but their individual livelihoods being potentially put at risk.

8. - N.P.H.A. certificate issue 2023 - K.W. hands out all new certs

9. - Annual Xmas dinner - All agree to meet at the Spread Eagle at 7pm on 26th January.

10. - Any other business - S.W. asks K.W. if there’s a current Hackney carriage Association, K.W. replies that its not operating currently.

11. - Time and date of next meeting - 28/02/23 this is a month earlier than usual due to the concerns of the draft proposal.

12. - Word document via S.W.

16/02/2023

Private hire association meeting 1/11/22

1. - Apologies - Elanour offers Louises apology

2. - Minutes of last meeting signed off by K.A. & S.W.

3. - Police matters - No one in attendance from the police.

4. - Town centre working partnership (WNC) Elanour mentions that the council have lost another licensing officer Ian Shaw, however he will be replaced by a gentleman named Michael Sands who worked as a licensing officer at Cherwell so has a lot of experience, so hopefully a quick transition into the roll.
Elanour also mentions that the new licensing conditions are nearly complete and proposes that our association has a soft consultation possibly in December. All agree that it's a good idea.
She also notes that the Hackney rates have increased and don’t seem to causing any issues.
She continues mentioning the driver enrolment course and says the next one is set for 22nd November at the Guildhall, and says that the uptake of the course is very good.
K.A. asks Elanour why are there so many cars around town without bubbles on them and even some with no bubble or plate. Elanour responds saying that the council are proposing to undertake Xmas enforcement programme and states that in the future they will be more stringent. Dave from Amber says that DBS update service needs to be mandatory, Elanour replies that the council agree and have put that proposal forward several times. She also noted that DBS stays with the police for quite a long time on many occasions, Charlie from Mayfair says he will contact Rodney Williams from the police to request a swifter response on their end.
Elanour says that the council are considering opening the plating system to all garages in the new proposal. C.F. says this is a bad idea and that there will always be rogues ready to take advantage. All agree. 2 MOT’s per year with one plate seems to be the consensus with our association.
S.W. asks Elanour have the council anymore hard copies of the driver licensing conditions, Elanour says she will some on to S.W.

5. - Xmas dinner - 26th January 2023

6. - Any other business - Nothing

7. - Date and time of next meeting - 24th January 2023

08/08/2022

NORTHAMPTON PRIVATE HIRE ASSOCIATION
64 Crofters Close, East Hunsbury, Northampton, NN4 0BJ Tel. 07860 763398

Minutes of Private Hire Association meeting 26/07/22 at the Vocal Club, Northampton

1. Apologies & Introductions. Stuart Russell and Ken Andrews were away, and Charlie Fleming apologises for non-attendance due to other commitments. Kevin Willsher, Steve Ward, Dave Sherwood, with Eleanor Flannery and Ian Shaw from WNC licencing.

2. Minutes of Last Meeting. Signed off by SW and KW.

3. Town Centre Police. No attendance from police.

4. WNDC Licensing. Still no further with the new Licensing Policy. SW asked what are the likely proposals for the vehicle age limits or emissions as drivers were concerned that they will be replacing vehicles all over again. EF said that WNDC current plan is to stick with the Euro 6 and Euro 5 limits introduced in 2018. DG asked about the policy of allowing drivers to operate with several PH firms at the same time, as he was contacted by a driver recently who was working on Bounds and Skyline, and wished to work on Amber at the same time. EF said it is not the current policy to prevent drivers from doing work on several companies at the same time. KW complained about the current licensing policy of hackneys being wheelchair accessible only, and the fact that some of the newer powered wheelchairs are too big and heavy for the ramps. EF said that there are no plans to change this policy. Concerning the issuing of licences, EF said that this should be speeding up in the future. EF said that Nick Atkinson will be leading on WNDC licensing policy, and hopefully he will be attending the next meeting

5. Taxi Tariff. EF said that although the Licensing Committee had decided to go with the proposed rise in hackney fares, it was advised by the councils lawyers that this still had to go to a full WNDC cabinet meeting. So the hackneys will have to wait a bit longer.

6. Other Business. DG said that Enroute had passed some prepaid work across to his company (Amber Cars) without informing them that this was so. So neither the customer nor the Amber driver knew of this, and to date the payment is outstanding. IS said that he would look into this.

7. Next Meeting. The next meeting will be on 27th September at 11.00 at the Vocal Club

28/09/2021

Main points on todays PH meeting.

Hackneys will be zoned, Northampton, Daventry, South Northants as was. Private Hire would not be zoned, just West Northamptonshire.

Twelve month plate, with an interim six month MOT.

Amalgamation of vehicle emmisions and/or age limits.
Licensing had suggested 3 years old for new vehicles.
I don't agree with the last bit for lots of reasons.

Do we keep roof signs or go over to door signs.
It would be one or the other. I know which I would prefer.

Sort out the DBS mess so that we just do the one.

Private Hire would not be restricted to working for one operator.

All of the West Northants proposals will have to go to the legal people before they get clarified.

24/09/2021

Private hire meetings are restarting.
Coming soon will be West Northants proposals for Hackney / Private Hire licensing.

01/03/2021

01/03/2021

01/03/2021

Please find attached the latest newsletter
March 2021

Bus Lanes
It seems some drivers are still confused about the Duston to Town Centre bus route.

Here is a list of where Private Hire cannot go.
Bus lane at the bottom of Duston Road.
Bus lane along Weedon Road eastbound (towards town centre)
Bus Lane along Saint James Road eastbound (towards town centre).
Bus lane outside It’s a Gift Saint James.
Bus lane to the left of Black Lion Hill eastbound (nearest the wall).

And a list of where Private Hire can go.
Centre lane Black Lion Hill eastbound (towards town centre) despite the confusing bus sign.
Marefair eastbound (towards town centre).
Gold Street eastbound (towards town centre).
The Drapery both ways.

Vehicle Age Limits
As you probably know by now the new Vehicle Emissions rules have been delayed until the end of this year.

Vehicle Plates
The Northampton Borough Council is currently taking up to 14 days to issue new plates. If your plate is taking longer please contact me and I will get on to Licensing to find out why.

Bounds Taxis Court Action
You may have heard about the recent court case with Uber in London. Bounds Taxis is having a similar ongoing case with two past drivers who insist that they should have been paid holidays and minimum wage.
They consider that they should be classed as workers rather than self-employed or employed. This would seem none too onerous at first, however it brings with it some baggage. Firstly all takings by a worker are counted as takings by the taxi company. Ref. VAT notice 700/25. This is therefore subject to VAT at the standard rate. Not added on top, not allowed to do that, but doing a reverse calculation VAT works out at 1/6 of all takings. As the Chancellor at the moment is looking for further sources of income don’t mention it to him. Secondly the drivers running costs have to be paid by himself. The taxi company is under no obligation whatsoever to pay any driving expenses to a worker. He has to claim for that on his own tax return. I have included with this letter a spreadsheet laying out the earnings under various schemes, worker PAYE, self-employed, and Ltd company.
As you can see the worker drivers earnings don’t look so bad until you subtract vehicle expenses after the wages paid. I’m not saying earnings are great in this job (especially at the moment with Covid 19), but why make it a lot worse for yourself. I think the drivers concerned have been very ill advised.

If you have any comments on this or anything else, please let me know.

Steve Ward
Northampton Private Hire Association

25/02/2021

The case revolves around two drivers at Bounds who are taking the company to court as they consider that they should be classed legally as "workers" and not self employed, and should be entitled to holiday pay and rest breaks. To read the case so far put into Google the case number. 3319522/2019 . Listed as Watford Tribunal.

13/02/2021

Regarding Duston to St James bus lane

I have been asked why we did not object to the implementation of the new bus lane.

This is because it was implemented by way of a TRO (Traffic Regulation Order). These were expanded due to the coronavirus epidemic to give councils the power to impose these without prior consultation. Basically they can impose whatever they like and consult afterwards (we will see).