Council to reject limit on taxis

CALLS for a restriction on the number of so-called hackney carriages looks set to be rejected.

Warwick District Council's ruling executive is to be told that the move will have little benefit on the trade of existing drivers.

Limitations were considered by the council after lobbying from the taxi trade.

But at a meeting on Thursday, senior councillors will be told that the number of applications for black cab licences are actually falling anyway and that a recent survey showed there were 'sufficient numbers of HCVs in the district to meet the service demands of the traveling public'.

Hackney carriages can be hailed in the street or pick up business at taxi ranks and have to be licensed in the area in which they operate.

Private hire vehicles can only be used if booked through a taxi firm. They are also licensed by local authorities, but that does not have to be the one in whose area they operate.

Documents to be presented to the council's executive on Thursday accepts that private hire taxis coming in the district have increased considerably, including drivers legitimately working for companies such as Uber.

But they add that the council has little control over them as some were licensed by neighbouring authorities and there were no powers available to limit their numbers.

And the council has predicted a continued increase in passengers using app-based taxi services in the future anyway.

The documents added: "Given the above, a restriction on the number of HCVs is not necessarily going to benefit the HC trade.

"It is also possible a limit could cause additional financial strain on them, this is because the costs associated with running and maintaining a limitation policy, including the commissioning and project management of surveys every three years should not be borne by the general taxpayer and would need to be recovered from the trade via licence fees.

"Setting a limit could mean there is an increases in litigation as the number of appeals could increase, the local authority would also be open to a Judicial Review.

"This is because regardless WDC would still be required to process applications and if refused on the grounds of a limitation or restriction policy the applicant retains the legal right to appeal the decision."