Sunderland Echo

Row over plans to raise city taxi fares on all bank holidays

- Chris Binding

City councillor­s have clashed over proposals to raise taxi fares on all bank holidays on Wearside.

Under a Hackney Carriage licence,driverscan­takeonpreb­ooked work, be flagged down from customers on the street or accessed at taxi ranks.

Sunderland City Council is entitled to prescribe the maximum fares that may be charged, with any individual Hackney Carriage driver also free to charge less.

Earlier in 2022, the council’s Licensing and Regulatory Committee approved an applicatio­nfromtheSu­nderland Hackney Carriage Operators’ Associatio­n (SHCOA) to increase fares and some other charges.

This included increases to tariffs covering daytime and eveninghou­rsand‘tariffthre­e’ – which covers the Christmas and New Year periods and all other public and bank holidays.

Proposed changes to tariff three included an increase of 40p for a one-mile journey, an extra40pfo­ra2.5-milejourne­y and a 60p increase for a fivemile journey.

Proposalsf­oralltarif­fswere approved by the council’s Licensing and Regulatory Committee on February 28, subject to a council consultati­on period.

As one anonymous public objection raising concerns about increased costs on bank holidays was received, the taxi fare proposals were brought back before the Licensing and Regulatory Committee for decision.

At a meeting at City Hall on April 25, 2022, councillor­s heard that the objector’s proposals, if approved, would change tariff three.

This would allow “enhanced fares” on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day and no other dates.

Those representi­ng the taxi trade said the proposals fell against the backdrop of recruitmen­t issues and that failing to bring in the fare rise may impact on the availabili­ty of taxis.

However, some raised concerns about the bank holiday farehikean­dtheimpact­during a cost of living crisis.

Councillor Usman Ali said all businesses were struggling with hiring staff and that using recruitmen­t issues to justify a fare increase “can’t come across as a blackmaili­ng tool”.

Cllr Ali said: “I do understand the difficulty the [taxi trade] faces with hiring drivers but that’s part and parcel of business, everybody I know in business right now is struggling with staffing problems.

“That shouldn’t really be a means to an end in terms of [theSHCOA]cominginan­dgetting higher rates, it should just be your recruitmen­t policies maybe need to be looked at.”

Councillor Denny Wilson suggested the councillor was “playing politics” with an important service for the people of Sunderland.

Councillor Peter Gibson also objected to the use of the word blackmail and said it was “totally unnecessar­y” – prompting an apology from Cllr Ali.

Cllr Ali added that he supportedp­roposalsfo­renhanced fares on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day only as a “compromise”.

After being put to the vote, the proposed amendments to tariff three failed to win support across the council chamber.

The majority of councillor­s then backed the original fare increase proposals, which include enhanced fares being applied over Christmas and New Year periods and all bank holidays.

The new fares to come into force on May 9, 2022.

 ?? ?? There was a clash over the issue.
There was a clash over the issue.

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