On Monday 30th July 2012, the Southampton Hackney Association, Southampton Trade Association and Southampton Unite Union Taxi branch met with the Labour Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport,  Asa Thorpe. 

At the meeting we raised our long held concerns over the lack of 24 hour taxi ranks in Southampton with Mr Thorpe, who understood our apprehension regarding this matter.  Another meeting has been scheduled for September with a view to hopefully gaining some resolution on this for taxi drivers in the future.

The Southampton Hackney Association exists to to promote and benefit Hackney Taxi drivers in the city, if you would like to join us do get in touch info@southamptontaxis.org 

The Southampton Hackney Association (SHA), Unite Union and Southampton Trade Association have met with Associated British Ports (ABP).

Talks were held at ABP's Ocean Gate Headquarters, with the discussion centred around how the taxi trade can assist ABP, and the development of our trade at Southampton Docks.

There are four cruise terminals in Southampton, with a further terminal planned. This is on hold however, due to Liverpool's bid to extend their cruise offering. ABP are lobbying MP's and councillors.

As much as the Southampton Hackney Association can and will continue to support the local taxi trade, drivers need to realise the amount of effort that the local Unite Union taxi representatives are giving towards sorting out the Law Commission proposals for fundamentally changing our trade (potentially for the worse the SHA believe).

On Tuesday 10th July 2012, the Union taxi drivers lobbied members of Parliament in the House of Commons committee room before their summer break. The MP's were not actually aware of the Law Commission's proposals, so without the conscientious hard work of the UNite Union reps the voice of  taxi drivers would not have been heard.

The Southampton Taxi Association would suggest that drivers read the information online connected with The Law Commission report here.

Yesterday's meeting at the Council offices delivered a successful outcome for the taxi drivers of Southampton. The unmet demand survey proved conclusively that no extra taxi licences will be issued - the Councillors voted for the number of 283 taxis to remain the same.

Out of fifteen 24 hour taxi stands in Southampton, we only have spaces for 73 taxis, leaving a shortfall of 210 spaces! So the unmet demand survey results are welcome news for all. The Government Law Commission is currently reviewing the entire legal framework of taxis in England and Wales, and we will be reporting on their findings as soon as we hear anything.

As planned the SHA, Southampton Unite Union and Southampton Trade Association went to the exhibition at Coventry on 30th May 2012 and spoke to the Law Commission officials.

The Law Commission have said they will visit Southampton as soon as possible to discuss the whole structure of the taxi and private hire trade with drivers.

We will let drivers know exactly when the meeting will be and it would be a good idea for everyone to attend.

On Wednesday the 30th of May, the Southampton Hackney Association (SHA), the Southampton branch of the Unite Union and the Southampton Trade Association are visiting the Taxi and Private Hire Show in Coventry.

At this show government officials from the Law Commission will be present to discuss proposals relating to the taxi and private hire industry. We will feed back any information as soon as we have it, so do keep an eye on the Southampton Hackney Association blog.

The Public Law Team are currently working on a law reform project regarding taxi and private hire services. They are publishing a consultation paper, which is available online at www.lawcom.gov.uk, along with an electronic version of the summary and further details about the project. The consultation period will run for 3 months and a report and bill will be publlished by November 2013.

The proposals are related to the distinction between taxis which can advertise for hire on the street or via a taxi rank, and private hire vehicles which can only be pre-booked. The proposals will look at national safety standards for private hire vehicles and will replace the 340 sets of local regulations. Having a national safety framework will mean that once appropriately licensed private hire firms will be able to work freely across the country, rather than just in one geographical region. The proposals will also look at wider issues such as improving provision for people with disabilities, quanity restrictions and enforcement.

The findings of the Taxi Un-Met Demand Survey Halcrow Report for Southampton has now been completed and will be presented to the Licensing Councillors of Southampton City Council during the next few weeks.

We don't yet know what the report will say, however the SHA hopes that no more licences will be issued by Southampton City Council. 

For background information see our previous blog post:

The Southampton Hackney Association is here to support and promote the Hackney Carriage Taxi trade in Southampton. Recently we have provided information upon the whereabouts and number of taxi ranks to the City Council's Licensing Department, to help with their internal review.

There are currently 283 licensed white taxis in Southampton, with just 73 day and 18 night time ranks. The SHA believe that we desperately need more ranks so that drivers can safely and legally wait for trade, we have also suggested that the major taxi ranks be lengthened to accommodate long wheel base taxis.

We have put forwards a number of other suggestions to the council and the Highways Department, such as using Asylum Road, off of Bellevue as a feeder rank to the London Road at night time, this would help both drivers and local residents. Additionally, we have asked that signage be placed at the junction of West Street and High Street informing drivers of HGV's that there are weight and width restrictions in the street. This would alleviate congestion and help everyone concerned.

If you are a Hackney Carriage Taxi driver in Southampton, why not  join us?  Please click here to find out more.

If you are driving a taxi which you have purchased from new, and need to have a fault repaired by your dealer,  it is a good idea to be aware of the manufacturers warranty.

Recently, an SHA member driver was advised by a garage that the warranty on his vehicle had run out after 80,000 miles, meaning the fault was to be repaired at full cost. On checking with the vehicle manufacturer it was found that his taxi had a basic warranty which covered the first 100,000 miles or 2 years, whichever came first.

Armed with this information the repairs were carried out on his vehicle free of charge under the warranty. It always pays to be informed, why not check out your vehicle warranty today?