High standard of entries for Sefton Open
Taxi drivers face five-year ban over using mobile phones
IF THERE is one art exhibition you see this year make it the Sefton Open. The exhibition’s private view was absolutely packed with people eager to see what was on offer this year and artists also eager to see where their work was located.
The standard this year is very high and there’s also quite a diversity in the media being exhibited.
This comes, in part, from the nature of the artists’ groups that are represented, and there are many.
Apart from Southport Palette Club itself, there are 13 clubs, groups and societies from all over Sefton exhibiting painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, photography and textile art.
Nawal Gebreel, from the Coastal Creative group, is proud of its students’ entries this year.
The group is now in its tenth year and is showing examples of drawing, painting, mixed media and textiles produced by students of all ages and abilities.
Artist Frank Barnes has many years of exhibiting his work and his painting Sun, Dawn, Dance is one of his entries this year. He says that Sefton, as a borough, has a lot to offer in terms of high quality art from talented artists and, referring to the standard in the Open, this year more than ever.
Former Southport College student Sam Cookson, who works with the Southport Contemporary Art group, is one of the artists exhibiting sculpture this year.
His ceramic, wood and metal As The Crow Flies is influenced by 1980s art. Sam describes himself as a ‘maker’ rather than an artist and his work sits proudly in one of the many glass showcases within the galleries.
Jemma Tynan, The Atkinson’s exhibitions and learning officer, said: “There’s been a fabulous attendance; it’s been one of the busiest previews the Open has ever had.
“There was a very high level of entries this year and it’s nice to see different types of media being submitted with ceramics being quite prominent now.
“The Sefton Open is, indeed, open to artists and groups who have a connection to Sefton. Work is submitted from all over the borough.”
She added that she really appreciates the way people support the exhibition by not only attending but by buying the artists’ work.
The Sefton Open is at The Atkinson on Lord Street in Southport town centre until Saturday, May 4. Admission is free.
TAXI drivers in Sefton could lose their licence for five years if convicted of driving while using a mobile phone.
Under rules introduced at Sefton Council Licensing and Regulatory Committee, licensed taxi drivers face new and updated sanctions as the local authority approved changes to the Licensed Driver Convictions Policy.
Three new offences were added to the policy and included guidance on what sanctions licensed drivers would face if they were convicted of using a hand held device while driving, convicted of discrimination or convicted of exploitation.
For the offences of discrimination and exploitation, any driver convicted would have their license permanently revoked and prevented from ever working as a taxi driver.
However, there was some debate around the clarity and justification for the new guidance on the offence of using a hand held device while driving.
The revised policy stipulated an immediate five-year ban would be imposed on licensed drivers if they were convicted of such an offence.
Petitions were submitted by Frank West and Joseph Johnson from H&PH Trade Representative on behalf of licensed taxi drivers and asked for a revision of the wording in the policy.
It said: “The petitioner will request on behalf of the Hackney and Private Hire trade that members amend the driver convictions policy in relation to the disqualification period for the use of a handheld device.”
The trade representatives wanted the policy to reflect the modern working environment of taxi drivers who rely on mobile phone devices to confirm, amend or cancel jobs through associated booking APPs.
The reps said an immediate five-year ban was unnecessarily harsh and unclear as some drivers may be punished for tapping their phone while managing booking APPs.
The reps were clear a ban is understandable for drivers accepting calls with a phone in their hand. However, they said any instant ban should not be imposed on drivers who may have been using a device (mounted on the dashboard) to accept jobs.
Instead, the reps requested a change to the wording of the policy which would mean drivers would go straight to mediation (where a ban would be considered) rather than the imposing of an immediate ban.
Local authorities across the Liverpool City Region have been working to ‘standardise conditions’ in relation to the convictions policy and all changes have been passed by Wirral, Knowsley and Liverpool.
The Department for Transport (DfT) published the Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards in 2020 and have informed local authorities that any exception to the guidelines at local level must be predicated on ‘compelling local reason.’
The committee at Southport Town Hall did consider the petition put forward by the H&PH Trade Representative but did not believe the reasons reached the threshold as laid out in Government policy.
The committee also stated there were caveats to the convictions policy that did include options for mediation.
The report by Sefton Council said: “The recommendations to be implemented unless there is a compelling local reason not to and there is a risk that the council could be open to challenge if the new statutory guidance is not followed without sufficient justification.
“Adhering to the new statutory guidance will mitigate against any challenge to the council’s licensing regime.”