{"id":1924,"date":"2014-10-20T08:00:35","date_gmt":"2014-10-20T07:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=1924"},"modified":"2014-10-20T13:01:09","modified_gmt":"2014-10-20T12:01:09","slug":"stop-danger-clause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=1924","title":{"rendered":"Stop the danger clause"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When a staggering 80 per cent of women say they would be concerned if they were collected by a taxi driver from a firm different to the one they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ordered the taxi from \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d think everyone would sit up and listen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A recent Local Government Association safer and stronger communities board\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s opinion poll shows 80 per cent of women would be concerned if they booked a journey with one firm and a different one turned up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But the government appear indifferent to this most serious worry. Right now it is trying to push through a clause in the forthcoming taxi de-regulation Bill that could mean this threat becomes a reality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You could book your taxi from your regular private hire vehicle firm \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the one you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve used for years and safe travelling with \u00e2\u20ac\u201c only to find someone you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, turning up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stranger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s car<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know if they are actually licensed \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in reality you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be just getting into a stranger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s car.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So despite representations from Unite and other taxi trade unions, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, the Survivors Trust, all 19 police commissioners, the Institute of Licensing, and the Local Government Association (LGA) this clause (clause 12) has been included in the deregulation Bill, due to be heard in the Lords tomorrow (Tuesday October 21.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite lead national rep, Tommy McIntyre, a cab driver in Liverpool, said if the clause became law it would seriously threaten passenger safety \u00e2\u20ac\u201c especially women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ordered Kellog\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cornflakes on your supermarket internet shop \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and you get some inferior brand you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never heard of,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou would lose your right to choose which firm you want to travel with.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In essence, clause 12 would allow private hire operators to sub-contract bookings to operators licensed in a different district.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And by being able to pass jobs from one operator to another, the role of the local licensing enforcement would become impossible.<\/p>\n

Currently only the licensing officers from a licensing authority area have the power to take enforcement action against the vehicle and driver.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But this clause could result in vehicles and drivers working literally hundreds of miles from their licensing authority, with no controls, putting the public\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s safety at risk.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a point not lost on Tommy. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou could be licensed in Liverpool and work in London.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unlicensed <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And you could be riding in an unlicensed cab. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bLocal licensing authorities won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be able to enforce their licensing safeguards \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be able to control public safety.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fellow Liverpool driver and Unite rep Dave Macleod agrees. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no doubt that if clause 12 is included in the Bill it will be open to abuse.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt will be impossible to police \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in fact the police back us up on this.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just the police. The Local Government Association \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a cross party organisation advising councils \u00e2\u20ac\u201c also are fighting to remove the clause.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCouncils support comprehensive reform of taxi licensing but\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6not through this unwise piecemeal approach that could have a negative impact on public safety,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said the LGA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Cllr Ann Lucas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last week (October 14) the government dropped another contentious and potentially dangerous clause, clause 10, from the Bill. The move was welcomed by Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shadow transport secretary, Mary Creagh.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rogues <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But on clause 12 she told the Commons, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bMinisters are still pressing ahead with their risky plans to loosen taxi licensing and allowing cabs to work out of area, which Labour, alongside safety charities, has opposed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMinisters need urgently to review these final two measures and we repeat our offer to\u00c2\u00a0work with them to get the rogues off the road.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another aspect of concern should clause 12 not be stopped is the growth of mega-car firms like Uber and Addison Lee. Green Party MP raised the connections between Addison Lee and the Conservative Party.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She told the Commons, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe know that good money can be made from the taxi and private hire or minicab industry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAddison Lee has made so much that it is giving it away in large quantities to the Conservative party, and are we supposed to believe that Addison Lee has had no influence on the move to push amendments through before the publication of the Law Commission\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in-depth review of taxi and PHV legislation?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She added that, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bJohn Griffin, the boss of minicab giant Addison Lee, was embroiled in a cash-for-access scandal in 2012, after his firm gave \u00c2\u01410.25m to the Conservative party.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clearly imperative for everyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sake clause 12 is removed from the Bill tomorrow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

London driver and national rep Mike Hedges says women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s safety is at stake. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn London there are 25 sexual assaults by minicab drivers every week \u00e2\u20ac\u201c last year there were 287 assaults. That is not in any way acceptable and this clause must be and has to be stopped.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When a staggering 80 per cent of women say they would be concerned if they were collected by a taxi driver from a firm different to the one they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ordered the taxi from \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d think everyone would sit up and listen.   A recent Local Government Association safer and stronger communities board\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s opinion poll […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[33],"wps_subtitle":"Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s safety at risk if taxi bill not changed","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1924"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1924"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1934,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1924\/revisions\/1934"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}