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[email protected] · July 17th 09, 09:17 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In article ,
(Bruce) wrote:

On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:46:52 +0100, Paul Terry
wrote:
In message , Basil Jet
writes

The only feature of London minicabs which is designed specifically to
serve the interest of the public rather than the interest of the
minicab drivers/bosses is the fact that the drivers are verified to
have been convicted of no rapes since coming to this country.

There's more to it than that. Vehicles have to be MOT'd every six
months rather than every year, drivers have to have a medical
certificate supplied by their GP and they have to prove that they have
the appropriate and current insurance for public hire.

There is a huge variation around the country in the local authorities'
requirements for minicabs. I have a friend who use to run a minicab
business in Aylesbury, but now runs a similar business in Middlesex.
The reason for the move was the exceptionally high cost of complying
with Aylesbury's requirements.

Apparently, the annual cost of complying with the requirements in
Middlesex (I cannot recall which Borough) is much less than half that
in Aylesbury.

Middlesex? They never licensed anything and were subsumed in Greater
London in 1965. But Aylesbury will vary rather less with everywhere else
but London than it does with London.

Whether the enhanced requirements of one local authority over another
are intended serve the interest of the public rather than enhance the
accounts of the council's finance department is moot.

The latter is ******** because councils are only allowed to cover their
licensing costs by charging. They are not allowed to make a profit on the
process

London has been the centre of the dodgy minicab industry for over 30
years. Everywhere else in England hire cars have been licensed in similar
manner to taxis since 1976.

When the Government finally decided that London should catch up with the
rest of the country they did a typically half-hearted job.

--
Colin Rosenstiel