Proposed changes to rules covering Leeds taxi drivers could be made less strict, following resistance from the trade.
Leeds City Council is looking at tightening up its convictions policy for cabbies who commit minor motoring offences and clock up points on their licence. It had been suggested that drivers who accumulate more than six points for crimes such as speeding would potentially lose their licence, down from the current threshold of 12.
Cabbies have furiously protested against the move, branding it disproportionate and draconian and saying it will trigger an exodus of drivers from the trade.
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Now, following a public consultation, the council has put forward another option, which would see drivers on between seven and eight points given a warning. They would also potentially be forced to attend extra training.
Those who reach nine points could still lose their licence, if this option is adopted, but the council says each case will be judged on its own merits. The nature of the offences will be among the factors considered in any disciplinary action.
However, one local cabbies’ union hit out again at the council for proposing a change in policy, claiming the alteration made “no difference” to their view. They also warned Leeds passengers could soon be left waiting “two to three hours” for a journey as drivers exit the trade.
The policy will be discussed by the council’s licensing committee on August 9. Whatever the committee recommends will then go before the authority’s most senior councillors to be rubber stamped.
The deputy leader of Leeds City Council, Councillor Debra Coupar, said the proposed amendments showed the authority had “listened” to the trade.
“There was a huge response to the consultation and some of the feedback received from both the public and the trade we’ve really tried to consider,” Coun Coupar said, in an interview on Friday.
“It’s really important to say here that we’ve got 98.5 per cent of our taxi and private hire drivers providing an excellent service to the public. The option going forward to the licensing committee is to establish what provision is in place for the 1.5 per cent of drivers, who may need additional support to get them up to the same standards.”
Councillor Coupar said that the authority had tried to strike a middle ground between the views of the public and passengers, who are generally in favour of stricter measures, and those of drivers, who say they fear losing their livelihoods for minor infringements.
She said: “There has to be a balance, with public safety paramount. The drivers are providing a public service because they’re carrying members of the public in their vehicles, but at the same time we’re trying to support and assist the trade.”
Local authorities across the country are going through similar battles with their taxi drivers over changes to convictions policies, which have been prompted by new guidance from the Department of Transport.
But Zahir Mahmood, vice chairman of the Leeds Private Hire Drivers Organisation (LPHDO), said that the council’s amendments “made no difference” and claimed there was no need to change the current 12-point threshold.
He said: “This is about hypocrisy and bureaucracy. It’s people who’ve never been in the trade and who’ve never done this job making the rules up.
“Getting points on your licence is so easy when you’re in a driving job. Drivers can’t make ends meet at the moment. They’re overworked and so they’re going to make these mistakes. They’re being pushed into making mistakes.
“There’s already a shortage of taxi drivers in Leeds at the moment. Give it until next year and with these new regulations passengers will be waiting two to three hours for a slot.”
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