I really would find this hilarious, were it not for the fact it is yet another young Lady has been raped in a Minicab, bogus or otherwise.

When this sick pervert gets released, when he undoubtedly gets another PH License (do not want to jeopardise his Human rights)
he must inform all single females getting into his car he is a convicted rapist.

I am sure his future passengers will be reassured and have a comfortable ride home.
-------------------------------------

An illegal taxi driver has been jailed for 10 years for raping a young woman put in his cab by her friend who wanted to make sure she got home safely. 

Abdel Baisar, 34, picked up his victim in the early hours of June 20 last year in Leicester Square, central London after she was on a night out with friends.

Baisar, who already had a conviction for taxi-touting, was driving in the area when he picked up the victim.

He drove the woman to her address in south east London and then attacked her.

The victim woke up to discover she had been raped.

Baisar was traced through a match on the National DNA database and arrested on July 16. He was charged the following day.

Baisar of Tulse Hill, south London pleaded not guilty to the offence but the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict.

He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment at Woolwich Crown Court after being found guilty of rape on January 19.

He must also sign the sex offenders register for life.

In the unlikely event he is ever granted a minicab licence again, the court ruled he must declare himself a convicted rapist to any single female fares.

Detective Constable Mark Azariah of the Metropolitan Police's Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: 'I would like to praise the bravery of the victim in coming forward to the police in this distressing case and supporting the investigation.
'I would urge anyone to come forward to the police in such cases and work with us to convict these predatory males who target women when they are at their most vulnerable.

'I hope that the sentence handed down by the Judge goes some way in helping the victim recover from this ordeal.' 

http://goo.gl/XKKjLd

Deregulation Bill, Amendment to be moved on report.

Liverpool council has demanded more information from controversial internet taxi service Uber more before it can set up in the city.

The ride on demand private hire service was seeking to operate a fleet of taxis in Liverpool.
The application was heard at a city council licensing committee meeting this morning at Liverpool town hall.

However, the chair of the committee Cllr Christine Banks ruled that the meeting would be held in private as they could be discussing commercially sensitive details of the company’s operation.
This was challenged by committee member Cllr Steve Radford who said the committee was not discussing an individual but a company, and Karl Barry from the Taxi Alliance who questioned whether the correct rules had been followed. 

Representatives from Uber told the committee they had “no strong feelings either way” but admitted if asked commercially sensitive questions they “may be more reluctant to answer, just as any company would”.

Last month it was revealed that the internet taxi firm was advertising for a general manager to launch a new branch in Liverpool.

Cllr Banks told the meeting in Liverpool today she had decided to exclude the press and public from the meeting to allow a more open discussion about the company’s application.

Mr Barry told the ECHO he was concerned about the meeting being held in secret, and added: “There is concern about Uber and the reputation that they have both nationally and internationally, and that is not withstanding the clandestine nature of the way the local authority are conducting themselves.”
However, following the meeting the committee decided to defer making a decision on Uber’s application.

Cllr Banks, who had reiterated the legal basis for holding the meeting behind closed doors, said: “The committee considers it needs further information about certain issues relating to public safety.”
She said they want more information about “command and control procedures” and they would “defer a decision until the head of licensing has looked further into these issues and reported back to the committee”.

The US-based firm has revolutionised the taxi market in London since its launch in July 2012 and since has expanded into Manchester and Leeds, making Liverpool the fourth city in the UK to be identified by the company as a suitable site for its operations.

It already has a presence in 45 countries and more than 200 cities worldwide.

Unlike other black cabs or private hire taxi services Uber works by customers downloading an app and entering their credit card information.

To order a ride, customers simply open the app and press a button. Using GPS, the nearest available Uber driver will then be dispatched to the location. No cash is exchanged.

But the service has also attracted controversy and been the subject of protests by established taxi firms, who accuse Uber of unfair business practices and compromising passenger safety.
Last month authorities in the Indian capital, Delhi, banned Uber after a driver allegedly raped a female passenger.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/taxi-service-uber-must-provide-8541117

Source =  http://goo.gl/WUJLpq

Could you thrive on THREIV ?


London Electric PH Car fleet Threiv Guarantee the following

1. £3000 a month fares for 6 shifts a week. 

2. £475 a week to the driver, for six shifts a week.

http://www.thriev.com/drive/

UBER U.K.

UBER are hiring staff at 13 U.K. Area's.

i.e Liverpool       Belfast
     Bristol            East Anglia
     Newcastle      Manchester.
     Sheffield        South Coast
     Edinburgh      London
     Glasgow        Leeds
     Birmingham.

There may be more, have a butcher's and see if I have missed any.

https://www.uber.com/jobs/list

BELFAST

Controversial multi-billion dollar mobile US taxi-booking app Uber is eyeing up Belfast as one of its next targets.

And it's likely to face stiff competition from Northern Ireland's two big taxi firms - Value Cabs and FonaCab.

In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, Jo Bertram - Uber's general manager for the UK and Ireland - said: "We'd definitely love to come to Belfast one of these days." 

It aims to be in every major city in Europe in the next couple of years.

Uber is a taxi-booking app for mobile phones which allows customers to locate the nearest cab using GPS, before dispatching it.

The service currently operates in Dublin and across the UK, with drivers signing up to work for the company, providing their personal information and completing a criminal record check.
They can then choose their own hours, with Uber taking 20% of the total fare.

It's already in most major cities in the UK, and its global business is now valued at £26bn.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/news/uber-taxi-app-giant-to-shake-up-cab-industry-in-belfast-30923939.html

Comment: Belfast looks like it has considerable problems in store this year. The news from Uber is bad enough, but, in June the proposed single tier license is supposed to commence. The proposed single Tier system in Belfast is regarded by some, myself included, as a trial for the rest of the UK.

The single Tier license would mean PH cars can ply for hire outside the inner core of Belfast City Centre. The Uber move would mean that their cars would be able to do similar

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/shakeup-of-taxi-licence-regulations-delayed-until-june-30800262.html
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GLASGOW

A SEX pest taxi driver terrified women by locking them in his cab, a court was told.
Michael Boyd, 33, gave up his licence after complaints about his creepy conduct.
But he then lied to get a licence for a neighbouring area – where he continued to prey on his female passengers.

He leered at women and sat outside their houses for as long as half an hour after dropping them off.
And some passengers believed he had been performing a sex act on himself shortly before they got into his vehicle.

Boyd is awaiting sentence next month at Paisley Sheriff Court after admitting placing passengers in a state of fear or alarm and lying on his licence application.

He gave up his East Ayrshire licence in 2013 but when he applied to East Renfrewshire last year he avoided the complaints against him being detected by saying he had never held a permit before.
The court was told Boyd picked up a woman from a party in Neilston, Renfrewshire, in the early hours of last June 28.

Pamela Flynn, prosecuting, said he told the woman she had “nice boobs”.
She went on: “The witness was shocked and felt it was inappropriate.

“The accused carried on into comments about her being out of his league but he just wanted to have sex with her. He repeated himself, asking why he couldn’t get a girlfriend. She noted the doors were locked and that he was driving on a back road.”

The victim was so scared for her safety that she texted and phoned her brother and got Boyd to go and pick up her boyfriend.

A week earlier, Boyd, from Kilmarnock, leered over another woman he took to her home in Barrhead.

Flynn said: “When he dropped her off he asked her if she would go out with him. She refused, saying she had a boyfriend.

“The witness noted he drove to the end of the street, turned his vehicle around and sat outside her home for a further 30 minutes, which added to her concerns about the accused’s behaviour.”
In March last year, he locked another woman in the back of his cab after picking her up in Glasgow city centre.

He began ranting at her, quizzing her on why she was still single.

Flynn told Sheriff David Pender: “She was very aware of the accused looking her up and down, which made her feel uncomfortable.

“He went into a rant, saying he was 31 and had never had a girlfriend. He then harassed her about whether she would date him or set him up.”

In April last year, Flynn said, Boyd left a couple feeling uneasy after picking them up at a flat in Glasgow’s Dennistoun area to take them back to Paisley.

Flynn said: “Both witnesses were extremely concerned that the driver’s seat was quite far back, to the extent that the girl in the back had to sit side on.

“They also noted the accused appeared to be really fidgety and nervous. They formed the view that he had been masturbating shortly before they got in.”

The couple decided to leave the car but the doors were locked.

After they argued with Boyd about it, he stopped the vehicle and let them out, not bothering to ask them for any money towards the fare.

Boyd was working as a taxi driver in his home town in 2013 before giving up his licence and went on to work the Glasgow area with his East Renfrewshire permit.

Sheriff Pender ordered him to be assessed by social workers and a group who work with sex offenders.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/sex-pest-taxi-driver-preyed-5013562

TAXI drivers in Exeter fear their livelihoods could be destroyed if plans to remove restrictions on the number of hackney carriages are given the go-ahead.

Councillors will consider proposals to de-restrict the quantity of cabbies allowed to collect passengers from the city’s 10 taxi ranks and be hailed in the street.

But Exeter drivers insist there is not enough trade to justify an increase on the current 65 licensed hackneys and predict it would lead to a reduced quality of cabs.

The cabbies claim they would not be able to earn enough money to stay in business and have accused the council of discriminating against them.

Amir Mossadeph, chairman of the Exeter St David’s Taxi Association, said: “De-restriction would be an absolute disaster and is completely unacceptable because it would destroy whole businesses. The foreign drivers would become like chickens for the slaughterhouse. There is a feeling of discrimination.”

The council said any suggestion that the policy would be prejudiced against foreign drivers was “misguided”.

The association has urged the council to maintain the current policy of taxi restriction, and has offered to fund the commission of a customer survey into unmet demand.

It claims a council report published last July in support of de-restriction contained ‘gross factual inaccuracies and omissions’.

But the council denied the claim, saying it had “firmly rebuffed” a number of written correspondences to that affect.

Hassan Al-Seaidy, 58, who owns two Hackney license plates in Exeter, said: “The whole community is very worried. Many taxi drivers came here with nothing. They worked in chicken factories to save money to buy a license plate. Now they are worried their investment will be worthless.”

He added: “This is an example of dictatorship by the council. The council is being vindicative and not listening to us. We believe this motion is politically motivated and is against us.”

A taxi and private hire services report published by the Law Commission in May 2014 identified a number of arguments against removing quantity controls.

These included traffic congestion, noise and air pollution, reduced driver income, licensees unable to afford to maintain safety standards, and a taxi rank ‘free-for-all’.

The report concluded quantity restrictions could play a ‘positive role’ within the taxi licensing framework, and said there was a ‘lack of empirical’ evidence of the benefits of de-restriction.

It added that evidence from a consultation suggested removing restrictions would not bring ‘significant consumer benefit’.

In a letter to the city council, Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw said he had “serious concerns” about the possibility of de-restriction following his own research into the matter.

The licensing committee will consider the proposals at a meeting on February 3.

They will also discuss a related bid to impose higher quality criteria on city taxis including a distinctive colour scheme, in-cab CCTV, improved wheelchair access and lower emission vehicles.

If the plans are accepted, any applicant who meets the ‘enhanced’ standards will be able to obtain a hackney carriage license.

A council spokesman added: “Officers feel that higher quality criteria would prevent the increase in numbers and lowering of standards seen elsewhere when de-restriction has taken place in an unmanaged way.”

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Exeter-taxi-drivers-claim-discriminated-council/story-25895368-detail/story.html?

A Liverpool taxi firm has launched a pilot scheme that will see Hackney and private hire drivers working together
A Liverpool taxi operator has invested £700,000 in its bid to triumph in the city’s cab wars.

Alpha Cars has launched a pilot scheme which sees hackneys and private hire taxis working side-by-side.

James Bradley, who runs the 500-fleet company, described the scheme as a “quiet revolution” in the taxi trade in Liverpool.

The pilot allows self-employed hackney drivers to operate as either hackneys or private hire vehicles, changing the mode of operation at the flick of a switch.

Mr Bradley said: “We have all read reports in Liverpool about changes in the taxi trade, mainly as a result of proposed government legislation.

“I have always felt both sides of the trade can co-exist in what is a changing landscape for the taxi world.

“So far we have six hackneys in our pilot scheme but I am convinced it will grow.

“A hackney driver can choose whether to operate as a traditional ‘hail-on-the-street’ taxi or switch to operating as a private hire taxi. Our new technology allows the driver to change modes in seconds to suit prevailing conditions.

“It means if the hackney side of the business is quiet the driver can opt to take on private hire work.”

Alpha is spending around £400,000 on creating a new call centre at its main base in Childwall, as well as around £300,000 on a new IT system and app technology.

The app allows drivers to call customers and customers to call drivers direct through the app without either knowing each other’s phone numbers.

It also links with satellite systems to ensure the nearest taxi is dispatched to the customer’s departure point.

The tracking system reports to the base office the driver’s progress towards the customer and when they pick up customers.

It also warns the office if the driver is deviating from the correct route.

Alpha is the latest Merseyside taxi operator to launch app technology with other firms such as Delta and Davy Liver Taxis also offering smartphone apps.

Mr Bradley said: “We have been using IT technology for some years, but our new customer-made network is ahead of its time.

“We have been able to work with the designers to construct a system to meet our specific needs.”

A year ago Alpha opened Liverpool city centre’s first-ever taxi hub, providing a safe indoor waiting area on Duke Street, opposite Liverpool One.

The company has applied to extend the opening hours from 2am until 4am following requests from customers.

Mr Bradley said: “The hub has worked better than we envisaged and has been welcomed by local hotels and restaurant owners. We employ security personnel in the evenings to add to the safety and security.”

Alpha’s investment follows a series of taxi-related battles in Liverpool.

In December, Liverpool council revoked the licence of Bootle-based Delta Taxis to operate in the city.

The company had failed to stick to a condition linked to its licence to have a dedicated Liverpool booking line separate from its Sefton operation.

Delta said its practices are legal and it will fight the council.

Both parties are now awaiting a court date and in the meantime Delta remains operational in Liverpool.

Meanwhile controversial ride-on-demand taxi firm Uber revealed late last year it would be opening a branch in Liverpool.

The US-based firm works by customers downloading an app and entering their credit card information.

Liverpool cabbies vowed to fight Uber and raised concerns over a “complete saturation of taxis in the city” but some ECHO readers welcomed the cheap fares the company would bring.

http://goo.gl/q8cdmz
-------------------------------------------------------------

A BRISTOL taxi driver has been found guilty of sexual assault on a woman passenger.

Abukar Jimale, of Halston Drive in St Paul’s, had denied the charge and another of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent in August 2013.

But a jury of six men and six women found the 46-year-old guilty of both charges yesterday and he was bailed pending sentencing on a date to be fixed.

Bristol Crown Court was told he had forcefully kissed the woman and made her put her hand into his trousers and touch his private parts.

The 22-year-old complainant said she had “frozen” during the incident, which had happened at Temple Meads station after Jimale had seen her walking in Bath Road in the early hours of the morning and offered her a ride to the station, where a friend was waiting to meet her.

She told the jury that Jimale had said: “I wish I had a girl like you,” then asked her to stay with him.

After the assault the woman had got out of the car and taken a picture of it before telling her friend what had happened and calling police.

Jimale had claimed that he had taken the woman to the station after she knocked on his door, crying, and begged him to take her to Temple Meads.

He claimed she had told him she had no money but he decided to help her as he could see she was distressed.

After arriving at Temple Meads, he said, she had kissed him and thanked him.

Jimale told the jury: “I was trying to hold her back because it was against my culture and my profession.”

But David Scutt, prosecuting, said Jimale had preyed on vulnerable girls late at night and thought he could get away with it.

The jury heard evidence from another woman, a Bristol University student, who had dialled 999 from Jimale’s taxi after he grabbed her hand and talked about taking her to the Downs.

Mr Scutt said this was “another young lady out late at night, drunk and vulnerable. Another young lady you tried to target in a similar way”.

He told Jimale: “You have lied and lied and lied. You used your family, your health and even your faith to save your skin.”

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-taxi-driver-convicted-sex-assault-woman/story-25878693-detail/story.html
-----------------------------------------------------------

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Taxi drivers in Los Angeles will be required to use an Uber-style app allowing riders to hail cabs from mobile phones, city officials decided on Thursday, in a move to help licensed taxis compete against ride-sharing services.

The so-called "e-hail" app requirement is the latest response to the shockwaves sent through the taxi industry by the growing popularity of ride-sharing services like Uber, Lyft and Sidecar that often have cheaper fares and more efficient customer service.

“It’s probably not going to be a panacea but it’s going to improve things,” said Los Angeles Board of Taxicab Commissioners President Eric Spiegelman. “At the very least, it’s a gigantic first step.”

Los Angeles cab companies, which operate 2,300 licensed taxis, reported a 21 percent drop in rides last year and complain that they are bound by regulations on issues such as safety and fare structure that do not apply to ride-share companies.

A taxi app could be particularly popular in Los Angeles, where it can be difficult to hail a cab from the street. Except at Los Angeles International Airport or major hotels, riders usually must call a dispatcher and often face long waits.

In a vote on Thursday, the five-member Board of Taxicab Commissioners opted to begin an app program on Aug. 20 and could impose immediate fines of $200 a day on drivers who do not use an “e-hail" app.

But some details remain to be worked out, including whether to include flexible fares instead of current fixed rates, whether to build a new app or use an existing one, and whether to use one or multiple apps for different companies. Certain fare structure changes would also require Los Angeles City Council approval.

Cab company representatives voiced no opposition to the app concept at the board meeting, but asked to be included in a working group that will make recommendations on app features.

“We’re not against it,” said Jano Baghdanian, general manager of MTS Management Inc, which operates several cab services in Los Angeles. “It’s just the practical question of how does that make it a change, how does that make it a level playing field?”

While popular for its ease of use, Uber has faced scrutiny in the United States and other countries because of concerns over passenger safety. The district attorneys of San Francisco and Los Angeles said last month they had filed a lawsuit against Uber for misleading customers about its background checks on drivers.

http://goo.gl/IvSmB7
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EIRE

Taxi drivers are holding a protest next Tuesday, 20 January, over changes to fares.

They are protesting the decision by the National Transport Authority to introduce a new fare structure, which they claim will mean losses of 32 cent per kilometre for journeys over 30 kilometres long, during the day.

They also say the reprogramming of meters will cost over €4m.

The full details of next Tuesday's protest have not yet been released, but it is supported by the Irish Taxi Drivers Federation and the National Private Hire and Taxi Association.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/taxi-drivers-to-protest-on-tuesday-658229.html

Ten news alerts this Morning, unbelievably 7 of them concern Uber around the world.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11388041

http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2015/01/new_orleans_taxi_and_limo_comp.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-16/boston-taxi-owners-suit-last-legal-salvo-in-ride-share-wars-1-.html

http://goo.gl/3fzvar

http://www.3news.co.nz/business/uber-needs-to-follow-rules---taxi-federation-2015011618#axzz3PAKQGUAV

http://www.3news.co.nz/technology/hotels-bars-get-taxi-order-device-2015011712#axzz3PAKQGUAV

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/uber-south-carolina-issues-cease-and-desist-order-against-taxi-company-over-licensing-9985352.html

LONDON (AP) -- London's iconic black cabs, under pressure from taxi app Uber and other upstarts, got some good news Wednesday: They won't have to share their right to drive in the capital's bus lanes with rivals.

The city's expensive black cabs benefit from a rule that allows them to move around quickly by using lanes set aside for buses. Rivals, such as Uber cars or cheaper taxis known as minicabs, are banned from the lanes.

That rule was challenged by private taxi firm Addison Lee, which has long argued that it amounted to unfair state support.

But a European Union court sided with black cab drivers in a ruling, dismissing arguments that the bus lane policy violated European competition laws.

The Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice said the policy did not use state resources to confer "a selective economic advantage" on London cabs. It also said that black cabs are not comparable to their rivals, because only black cabs can pick up customers without pre-booking.

"Drivers of black cabs are subject to strict standards in relation to their vehicles, their fares and their knowledge of London, whereas those standards do not apply to minicabs," the ruling said.

Transport for London, the authority overseeing public transport in the city, has argued that allowing tens of thousands of minicabs to drive in bus lanes would impact the reliability of bus services.

The ruling goes some way in protecting the traditional black cabs from competitors, especially smartphone-based services such as Uber and Hailo. London cabbies have reacted in fury to the apps' entrance into the market, staging noisy protests that brought traffic to a standstill.

Unlike their rivals, black cab drivers are self-employed, and most own their vehicle. Many cabbies take pride in their knowledge of London's streets — all cabbies must pass a test called "the Knowledge" — and most say that drivers from rival firms are not as professional.

Addison Lee can still appeal Wednesday's ruling in British courts.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/london-black-cabs-break-over-162218872.html#QiZ8lGB
------------------------------------------------------------------

LEEDS

A TAXI driver killed a love rival in a savage knife attack after finding his wife in an intimate encounter with him, a jury heard.

Solicitor Kathleen Kilic told Leeds Crown Court yesterday their two children were in her husband Oktay’s taxi at the time he launched his ferocious attack on Mark Berney and were screaming.

She described how she had gone for a drink with her former schoolfriend Mr Berney before driving to the layby near Ripley on the evening of August 3 last year.

But he had been tracking her using an app downloaded on his phone which he had placed in the boot of her vehicle and suddenly drove up and parked almost opposite them.

Her husband got out and went to the passenger door after shouting something like “what are you doing with my wife?”

The two men tussled over the door as Mr Berney tried to keep it closed.

“I thought he had just punched Mark in the chest and then I saw the blood and it wasn’t just a punch, then I saw the knife.”

She told the jury she could not move her husband and the attack continued. “I was screaming ‘stop it, stop’ it repeatedly.” But he just carried on.

When the attack stopped she could not get through on her phone so drove back on to the main road nearby to summon help but the jury has heard Mr Berney died from catastrophic blood loss due to his injuries.

Oktay Kilic, 40, of Kent Drive, Harrogate, denies the murder of Mr Berney, 44, from Knaresborough.

Mrs Kilic told the jury she met her Turkish husband through a mutual friend and they were in contact over the internet before she went out to Turkey on several occasions.

He moved to England to be with her and eventually began driving a taxi.

Initially they were happy but then he started to gamble and that led to arguments.

There was also violence on a couple of occasions and she decided she wanted the marriage to end.

She received a message last June from Mr Berney via Facebook.

A relationship then developed between them.

She said she wanted out of her marriage but her husband kept returning to her and “I was slightly scared of him.”

Under cross-examination by John McDermott, QC, defending her husband, Mrs Kilic denied her husband had stopped gambling by August last year.

Under cross-examination Mrs Kilic told the jury she had never had sexual intercourse with Mr Berney but that their relationship involved sexual contact.

She accepted she was performing a sex act on him in the car when her husband drove up that evening.

The trial continues.

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/newS/11722424.Husband_stabbed_love_rival__jury_told/?ref=rss
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Black cab drivers are not happy about the influx of foreign private drivers in the city
Proposals for a deregulation bill which would allow drivers and vehicles from other parts of the country to complete journeys booked through Wolverhampton based operators have been criticised by Wolverhampton City Council.

The council has written to Oliver Letwin, minister for Government policy and the sponsoring minister for the deregulation bill, highlighting their concerns that the changes would make it impossible to ensure drivers or their vehicles meet required standards.

Councillor John Reynolds, Wolverhampton City Council's Cabinet Member for City Services, said: “The council has serious reservations about the prospect of taxi journeys booked through local operators being completed by drivers and vehicles licensed in another area.

“We will have no enforcement powers regarding the conduct and behaviour of these drivers when they complete such jobs – and if passengers have a complaint there will be confusion about who they could complain to and what action, if any, could be taken by either of the licensing authorities involved.

What do you think?

Would you like the choice of booking a driver from another part of the country?

Be the first to comment
“The existing licensing framework gives councils control over the standard of drivers and their vehicles.

"For example, we require all our drivers to complete a safeguarding awareness course and know their way around the city, so for example they know how to get to the hospital if their passenger falls ill.

"The proposals will effectively negate all localised licensing requirements for private hire drivers and vehicles and act as a disincentive to licensing authorities to maintain high standards.

"Additionally in the absence of any electronic national database it will be almost impossible to validate the authenticity of vehicle licences from other areas and while this could be achieved retrospectively, in some cases it may be too late.”

Councillor Reynolds added that the Local Government Association has expressed similar concerns, and said: "While we accept that the existing licensing framework requires reform, we have grave concerns regarding public safety and our ability to effectively enforce the private hire licensing regime should the sub-contracting of private hire fares clause in the bill be agreed."

He also called on the Government to carry out a more comprehensive review of the licensing framework, keeping public safety at the forefront.

Taxi drivers in Wolverhampton are currently demanding a clampdown on the number of foreign cabbies being given licences amid concerns about their level of English and the level of background checks done.

Wolverhampton City Council has said it would refuse licences for cabbies who cannot speak adequate levels of English and revoked one licence last year because the driver could not speak English to a satisfactory level.

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-news/2015/01/15/new-taxi-rules-could-put-passenger-safety-at-risk-claim-wolverhampton-chiefs/?

Deregulation Bill Update.

The Deregulation Bill is taking its time. The last sitting was in November. Until that point it was moving quite swiftly.

I monitor the Parliamentary Calender every week and post anything of relevance on here. This weekend there was no plans to discuss the Dereg Bill until beyond the end of the month.

Today I received an Email saying the Report Stage of this Bill will be ventilated on February the 3rd and 5th, next.

What changed here ? I think the following might explain. It appears the bill was nearly abandoned.................

Last Night in the Commons.

Deregulation Bill: Carry-over Extension

7.8 pm

The Deputy Leader of the House of Commons (Tom Brake): I beg to move,

That the period on the expiry of which proceedings on the Deregulation Bill shall lapse in pursuance of paragraph (13) of Standing Order No. 80A shall be extended by 67 days until 30 March 2015.

The Deregulation Bill, the Report stage of which in the other place is expected to begin shortly, was introduced in the House on 23 January 2014. As set out in Standing Order No. 80A, as a carry-over Bill it will fall if it does not receive Royal Assent within 12 months of its First Reading. That date is now approaching. Given the strong interest in and support for the Bill in both Houses, it is only right for us to guard against that, particularly in light of the emergency legislation that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has introduced following the Christmas break.

The motion is intended to ensure that the life of the Bill—an important Bill that has spent some time in both Houses already—will continue until the end of this Parliament. The Bill covers many policy areas and departmental remits, all with the shared goal of reducing or improving the regulatory burden on individuals, businesses and organisations, and as such has properly received a great deal of scrutiny in this House and in the other place.

I can confirm to the House that the motion in no way undermines the Government’s intention to secure Royal Assent prior to the Dissolution of Parliament. Indeed, the Bill constitutes one of the many measures that this Government have pursued relentlessly in order to restore Britain’s economic growth to one of the highest in the developed world, and it makes common-sense reductions to irrelevant and often outdated regulations. I commend the motion to the House.

7.10 pm

Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab): I have some brief comments, but I will not detain the House for long. We will support the motion to extend the life of this rag-bag of a Bill, despite significant reservations about some of the measures in it.

On Second Reading I described the Bill as

“the Christmas tree Bill to end all Christmas tree Bills”—[Official Report, 14 May 2014; Vol. 580, c. 781.].

Since then the festive season has come and gone, but the Bill remains, with some significant baubles added to it. In fact, the Bill is a microcosm of the coalition and its programme of government—some dogmatic and ideological clauses, obligatory attacks on working people and their rights, but mainly a lot of bluster and window-dressing, with some last-minute ill thought-through proposals thrown in as well. It is no wonder that the Bill is coming apart at the seams in the other place.

Given the extended time it is taking the Bill to progress, why did the House not have more time on Report to consider some of the controversial clauses and late additions to it? It is not as though the House has been pressed for time. We are at the dog-end of a Parliament with very little Government business—a zombie Parliament —and it is nevertheless likely that this Bill will end up in 

13 Jan 2015 : Column 836

the wash-up, thanks to the mismanagement of Ministers. I would not take odds on it receiving Royal Assent before Dissolution.

I wonder why, if the measures in the Bill are so very important, it has taken so long to get it through Parliament. My noble Friends in the other place tell me that the Bill is having a tough time there, as I am sure the Minister is aware. The Government have been u-turning on all sorts of things, from pulling dangerous clauses on taxi licensing to dog regulation. I know that Ministers have serious work to do in the Lords, as they are facing pressure from peers on a range of issues including short-term lets, health and safety, parking and their ill thought-out plans to impose an economic growth duty on regulators. I look forward to the improvements made in the other place and to debating them with Ministers in the coming months.

7.12 pm

Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab): It was telling that in his introduction, the Minister rightly and properly drew our attention to the fact that the Bill first saw the light of day here on 23 January 2014. In the previous Parliament, when I was in the Government Whips Office, like one or two colleagues present in the Chamber, I would have been appalled and ashamed if we had taken so long to get legislation through. It is a sign of indolence or a dilatory attitude, or of gross incompetence.

I found it extraordinary that on the day that we saw a collapse of the national rail system, the Prime Minister should pose the choice for the next election as competence or chaos, and here we have three Bills for which we have to vote through extensions to time precisely because they have failed the test that the Government set themselves of competence or chaos. They are an absolute shower.

7.14 pm

Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab): In the previous Parliament I had the privilege of chairing the Regulatory Reform Committee, so I have been following the proceedings on this Bill with some interest, albeit from afar as, in this Parliament, the Chair of a different Select Committee. My right hon. Friend the Member for Warley (Mr Spellar) has made an important point. During the previous Parliament, the Labour Government drove through more deregulatory measures than have been achieved by this Government, who have failed abysmally in using the Regulatory Reform Committee and the legislative reform orders that are available to them. They should be ashamed of the progress that they have made given the flying start that we gave them with the procedures that they inherited.

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right about the time that is being spent on the early stages of Bills. We are not being given sufficient time to deal with Bills properly during their passage through this House and the other place. I can see the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes) leaving his place, which is a great pity. I am currently serving on the Infrastructure Bill Committee—my valedictory Bill and the last Bill Committee I will ever serve on, I guess. That is important in the context of what is happening in the generality of this process, because we are seeing, even today, things being added to Bills at the very last minute.

13 Jan 2015 : Column 837

Derek Twigg (Halton) (Lab): As usual, my hon. Friend is making some powerful and interesting comments. It is odd that the Government have struggled for such a long time in the past few years to find legislation to put through the House, and we have had a number of days that we have had to fill with other business. Given that record, is it not even more strange that they are having to move these motions tonight?

Andrew Miller: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We have faced day after day when the House has risen early because of the appalling management of business by the Government Whips. That has meant that we have not spent the time that was available to us to deal properly and thoughtfully with Bills during their proceedings.

David Wright (Telford) (Lab): One of the messages that this Government tried to give out at the start of this Parliament was that they would try to bring forward less legislation and deal with it comprehensively and carefully. They have clearly failed in that process because we have these motions before us tonight. When I was in the Whips Office under the previous Government, we moved a large number of Bills through this House very efficiently, and managed to get most of them through before the wash-up period. The Government are in real danger of losing this legislation if they are not careful.

Andrew Miller: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. His experience in the Whips Office was incredibly valuable, and he illustrates the point I am making.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Warley observed that this Bill started its proceedings on 23 January—almost a year ago—and it seems quite extraordinary that we are where we are today. The Government ought to wake up. If they are going to serve democracy properly, Bills ought to have the proper amount of time made available to them.

Derek Twigg: We heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central (Chi Onwurah) about the problems with the Bills in the Lords. Is not that because the Government are trying to rush legislation through here and not giving it proper time for debate? That is why it gets into trouble in the Lords?

Andrew Miller: It not only gets into trouble in the Lords but ends up as a shambolic piece of legislation, as 

13 Jan 2015 : Column 838

we have seen with the Infrastructure Bill, which started its passage in the Lords and is now being amended in Committee two or three days before it reaches its Report stage on the Floor of the House. I have no doubt that next week the Government will be asking for a carry-over of that legislation, but I will not stray too much down the road of the Infrastructure Bill, Mr Deputy Speaker, because you will call me to order.

I re-emphasise that the simple reality is that the process of deregulation—the removal of superfluous and unnecessary regulations and the tidying up of regulations through legislative reform orders, which the Opposition brought in when we were in government—was working, but it has failed to work for the whole of this Parliament. If someone needs deregulating, it is the Minister. I look forward to that outcome at the general election.

Question put and agreed to.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Chester

Nine private hire vehicles and five Hackney Carriages were issued with defect notices by council licensing officers

A taxi driver had his cab seized by police who discovered he had been driving around Chester – two months after his licence was revoked.

The driver was pulled over as part of a special operation which saw officers stop 54 private hire vehicles and black cabs in the city centre in a clampdown on safety.

One taxi driver had their licence suspended after officers, from Chester Inner Neighbourhood Policing Unit, discovered an abnormality with the meter on a Hackney Carriage car.

And police seized one cabbie’s car and fined the driver after discovering his licence had been revoked in August this year.

Nine private hire vehicles and five Hackney Carriages were issued with defect notices by council licensing officers, who accompanied police during the three night operation in the run up to Christmas.

These defect notices were handed out for less serious issues, including having a bulb out, and give the operator the opportunity to rectify the issue to prevent any further action being taken, Sgt Andy Burrage explained.
Operation Mitaka saw officers pull taxis off the road for around 10 minutes while they carried out checks, and officers said many passengers were pleased to see the checks were being done.

“In the majority of stops that we carried out, the taxis were found to be fully serviceable and roadworthy and suitable for the carriage of passengers. In most cases, the drivers fully understood the reasons for the stop which only kept them off the road for around 10 minutes whilst the checks were carried out,” said Sgt Burrage.

“It is important that the public are reassured that such checks are carried out on our taxis so that they can be confident when they are using them that they, and the vehicle they are travelling in, are safe.

“Many of the passengers we spoke to were pleased to see the checks being carried out too. I would reiterate to those coming into the city to socialise in the evening that they prebook taxis, or, if hailing one in the street ensure that it is displaying a CWAC plate on the vehicle and the driver is wearing his or her identification card.

“The success of the operation means that it will likely be repeated to ensure the standards are maintained throughout the year.”


http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/taxi-seized-cabbie-driving-round-8443681?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

BRISTOL

A TAXI driver is on trial for sexually assaulting a woman by kissing her and thrusting her hand down his trousers as he drove.

Abukar Jimale, 46, of Halston Drive, St Paul's, denies the allegations, a jury was told yesterday.

Bristol Crown Court heard she left the taxi at Bristol Temple Meads and photographed his car registration plate on her camera phone before calling police.

Jimale was arrested, interviewed and bailed. It is also alleged that eight months later he grabbed a teenage passenger's hand after asking her: "What's your name, beautiful?"

Jimale denies sexual assault and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent in August 2013. He has not been charged in rel- ation to the second alleged incident.

David Scutt, prosecuting, said the complainant was aged 20 when she had gone out with friends but was left on her own in Bath Road around 1.45am. Mr Scutt said she called a friend, who agreed to pick her up from Bristol Temple Meads, after which Jimale pulled up in a dark coloured taxi and offered to take her to the station.

Mr Scutt told the jury: "She got in. She was a young woman, alone, at night and she felt it was safer to get into a taxi than walk up Bath Road on her own. The Crown's case is that she was wrong about that."

When the woman told Jimale she lived in Bath he offered to take her there for a "ridiculously low" £20, the court heard. He said he lived alone in St Paul's, told her she was pretty and he would love to have a girl like her and asked her if she would spend the night with him.

Mr Scutt said: "Suddenly, without warning, he leant over and kissed her forcibly on the lips, forcing his tongue into her mouth."

He told the court she felt her hand grabbed to his groin. It was then that he put her hand down his trousers.

He added: "She got out of the cab pretty damn quickly. Out of the cab she had the presence of mind to take a photograph of his registration plate on her mobile."

When Jimale was arrested he told police the woman had leant across and kissed him, which happened occasionally with drunk people.

The Crown's case in relation to the second incident is that, in April last year, Jimale picked up a Bristol University student around 3am on Whiteladies Road, offering to take her to her halls of residence. After grabbing her hand and talking about going via the Downs, she started to dial 999 on her phone and got the driver to let her out – before completing her 999 call and reading his car registration number to police.

The 19-year-old student told the jury: "I was sat with my hand on my lap and bag. He did something to the heater of the car. With his left hand he grabbed my right hand and held it up against the heater.

"He kept making regular eye contact, and comments which made me feel a bit uncomfortable. He said 'you're an attractive girl' and asked me what year I was in at university."

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Cabbie-accused-sex-assault-passenger/story-25851374-detail/story.html
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NOTTINGHAM

Robbers 'cut off taxi driver's fingers and stabbed him over £5 fare'

Taxi driver Vladimir Qevani said his fingers became trapped in a door frame after he was lured to a house to collect a fare

Two of a taxi driver's fingers were chopped off in a door after he was lured to a house and robbed and stabbed in Clifton, a jury heard.

Vladmir Qevani drove his Skoda Octavia taxi to Cherhill Close, Clifton, to collect a £5 outstanding fare when he was attacked.

Five people went on trial yesterday accused of robbing him of cash and a mobile phone on December 11, 2013.

Mr Qevani, a self-employed driver for NG11 Cars, Clifton, was allegedly "set up" to be robbed.

He told jurors at Nottingham Crown Court he was dragged inside a house after he arrived.

He held on to the frame of a door – but it was shut on his fingers three or four times.

Abigail Joyce, prosecuting, asked Mr Qevani: "What happened to your fingers?"

Mr Qevani replied: "They got chopped off in the door."

The driver walked over and showed jurors his two shorter fingers on his left hand where the tips had gone.

He also described how he was held in a headlock inside the house and told to hand over his money.

His pockets were searched and he was stabbed in his left thigh.

Miss Joyce said Mr Qevani was set up to be robbed by defendants Kirsty Miller and Craig Grocock.

Co-accused Lance Reid, Cornelius Duggan and Leon Fuller were allegedly together in an Astra car before the robbery.

Miller, 25, of Cherhill Close; Grocock, 25, of Whitney Close, Top Valley; Reid, 36, of Elford Rise, Sneinton; Cornelius Duggan, 25, of Hartness Road, Clifton, and Fuller, 27, of Ladysmith Street, Sneinton, deny robbery.

"The prosecution say that Fuller drove Reid and Duggan to the robbery and waited in the car to drive them away," she Miss Joyce.

"Duggan and Reid went to Miller's address and laid in wait for the arrival of Mr Qevani.

"Once he arrived he was dragged into the house after Kirsty Miller lured him there on the pretence of paying the taxi fare."

Reid is further accused of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice with defendants Richard McGuire, 47, a taxi driver of Whitegate Vale, Clifton, and Shareen Morris, 25, of Wilkins Gardens, Clifton, between April 1 and June 10, last year.

All charges are denied

The trial continues


http://www.nottinghampost.com/Robbers-cut-cabbie-s-fingers/story-25852159-detail/story.html