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