Taxi trade representatives held a long awaited and positive meeting with Southampton Council Licensing Officers and Police this week.

Some of the subjects on the agenda were as follows :-

New initiatives planned for when the ships start to come into Southampton.

Definite no U-Turns in London Road with hopefully a weight limit - further discussions to be held with The Highways Department on this matter.

The Southampton Hackney Association's zero tolerance campaign against the illegal touting for work from some private hire's has now been placed as the number one priority with support from Southampton City Council and the police.

The CRB check (now known as DBS) was also discussed - You have to be in this country for five years before you can obtain a licence to become a taxi driver, necessary certificates are also sometimes needed from the Embassy where an individual has come from.

The committee strive to raise the standard of the White Southampton Taxis, and we need to keep this momentum alive...We really do welcome the input from SHA members, some of you are very proactive, yet we are looking for positive contributions from many more of you, so do get in touch. 

We will let you know the details of the Southampton Hackney Association AGM asap.

Instead of always relying on a Satellite Navigation System, we often find that a street map of Southampton is really reliable and useful for your taxi. Especially when roads are closed or traffic is heavy.

Why not spend around £5 on the compact A-Z Atlas of Southampton, available in most bookshops and garages? The A-Z gives you over 7000 street names, industrial estates, selected flats, student halls and other places of interest.

Over 300 A-Z maps and atlases for a whole host of Towns and Cities is available from www.az.co.uk - fantastic information for professional drivers!

The Southampton Hackney Association was established in 2001 to promote and benefit Southampton Hackney Taxi drivers in the city.

We are approved by Southampton City Council with whom we regularly consult, and are affiliated to Associated British Ports. Southampton Hackney Carriage drivers are all licensed, and regulated by Southampton City Council.

Southampton Hackney Association is not a "taxi company", we are an Association for our member drivers. If you would like to join us find out more here and do get in touch  - look forward to hearing from you.

Last Thursday 13th December, the three taxi trade group representatives were invited to a Transport for Southampton evening at the Sea City Museum.

It was an interesting evening, unfortunately the organisers of this function forgot to include the Southampton taxi trade in their presentation.

We offer a seven day/ 24 hour 365 day and night service and we need to be included in the transport framework for this City. Apologies were made by the Chairman of the Transport body for this oversight.

The Southampton Taxi Trade representatives and Southampton City Council licensing officer had our second meeting with Associated British Ports at Ocean Gate yesterday.

Positive discussions took place regarding the smooth operations of passenger movements within Southampton Docks.  A recent survey has been carried out by our Licensing Office on taxi drivers activities at the port terminals which resulted in ABP being encouraged with the findings.  

With Southampton being the number one cruise port in Northern Europe, we need to maintain our high standards, and these results are good news.

Taxi trade representatives met yesterday with G4S Southampton Docks Security Management with regards to exchanging ideas to improve customer service between Southampton taxi drivers and their staff. 

This was a really positive meeting, and with the importance of keeping the lines of communication open, future meetings are planned.

Today the three taxi trade groups (Southampton Hackney Association, The Unite Union and the Southampton Trade Association) are holding our first consultation meeting with the newly appointed licensing manager of Southampton City Council.  The Licensing Councillors will also be there.

The agenda comprises many topics, for example:

• The increase in licensing fees - without proper consultation
• Itchen Bridge Toll fee's
• The night-time economy
• The on-going problem of a lack of taxi ranks in the city

This meeting is important because it is the first proper consultation meeting that we have held since October 2011. The SHA website will keep you updated with news and outcomes, so keep any eye on our news page.

Recently the SHA got in touch with Transport for London to enquire about the law regarding Southampton Hackney Carriage Taxi Drivers using the bus/taxi lanes in London, and to find out whether as professional taxi drivers on business, we would have to pay the congestion charge.

We have now received a reply from them which clarifies the situation:

"Licensed Motor Hackney Carriages (MHCs) can use the vast majority of bus lanes in London but there are some bus lanes which have time restrictions or        that MHCs are not allowed to use so drivers will need to follow the directions of the bus lane signage.

Only Transport for London licensed MHCs are exempt from the Congestion Charge and so you will have to pay this, details about the Congestion Charge can be found here."

If you would like to find out more from Transport for London, you can follow them on Twitter @tflph
 

On the 23rd August 12 the Law Commission held a meeting at the Union House in Southampton. The Unite Union, Southampton Hackney Association, taxi drivers and Southampton Trade Association were in attendance to put pressure on the Law Commision over it's proposals to abolish the limits on the number of taxis registered for trade in the city, and the idea of removing restrictions of cross border private hire.

As we have previously reported, The Law Commission is consulting on the proposals to strip down regulations, give more clarity to the current laws, improve local licensing rules enforcement and open the taxi trade up to more competition. 

Union representatives fear that the proposals could 'destroy' the taxi trade. Perry McMillan, chairman of Unite's cab section in Southampton, said the idea of removing the limit on the number of taxis set by local councils was the mst 'controversial proposal', he went on to say 'our concern is it would be creating jobs not work'.

After an independent survey revealed there was no 'unmet demand' for more taxis, Southampton taxi drivers with the backing of the Unite Union recently convinced councillors to keep the number of hail and ride taxis in the city capped at 283, saying that a higher number would ruin their livelihoods.

Lawyers working on behalf of the Law Commission told taxi drivers that the review was not politically driven, and that the Government could reject the proposals it puts forward next year.  The idea of allowing private hire vehicles to use the word 'taxi' were unlikely to be put forward they stated. Discussions will run until September 10th.

This is your opportunity to meet the Law Commission to discuss some of the Commissions proposals which include -

• No Limit on Taxi Licences
• Bringing Motorbikes and Pedicabs into the licensing system
• Peak Time Taxi Licences
• Deregulation
• Easier for private hire's to operate nationally, therefore no longer restricted to bookings

Taxi Drivers, there are 73 proposals concerning our trade. We believe that it is in your best interests to attend this meeting...

It will be held at 11.30AM, at Transport House, 15-16 The Avenue, Southampton, S017 1XF on 23rd August 2012.

Possible FREE Refreshments provided to tempt you to turn up!

A meeting was held yesterday with the 3 trade groups The Southampton Hackney Association, Southampton Trade Association and the Taxi Unite Union. Who met with Senior Southampton Council Licensing Officers, the Hampshire Police and others -

Our agenda was as follows :-

• To establish better communication,
• Discuss community concerns
• Work closer with police and other agencies.

The meeting went very well and we hope to liaise with each other on a more regular basis.

If you would like to be part of the SHA who exist to support and promote Hackney Carriage Drivers in Southampton, do get in touch.