Hartlepool taxi drivers request permission to increase cost of Sunday and festive journeys

A report going before Hartlepool Borough Council licensing committee on Friday, March 10, suggests increasing the cost of a two-mile journey between 7am and midnight on Sundays by £1.40.

The proposals also include pricing alterations which would mean the cost for a two-mile trip between 7am and 6pm during the period between December 24 to 31 would increase by £3.20.

A £1.40 rise would also be seen for the same length of journey during those hours from December 18 to 23.

One taxi driver has told the Mail that the festive increases are proposed because extra traffic means “it is taking half a hour to do a five or ten minute job”.

In addition, the trade has requested an increase in the “soiling charge” from £35 to a maximum of £100.

The discretionary levy is able to be imposed by a driver if they believe a passenger has left their vehicle in need of cleaning.

The proposed changes have been backed by the Taxi Owners Working Group.

All 81 vehicle owners have been consulted on the changes, with a “small number” of objections received, which will be outlined at the meeting.

A report from Sylvia Pinkney, council assistant director for regulatory services, recommends the committee “approves the proposed increase in hackney carriage tariffs”.

It said: “Any increase in tariffs must reflect a balance between allowing licensed drivers to generate a reasonable income whilst representing value for money for the travelling public.

“An increase in the soiling charge to a maximum of £100 will provide greater compensation for the driver where there is a significant loss of work due to the fault of a passenger.”

It added drivers can ask for less than any approved tariff if they wish, and they “should charge less” than £100 for the soiling charge “where the cleaning required is less serious”.

It added drivers can charge less than any approved tariffs and below the maximum “soiling charge” if they wish.

According to the taxi trade magazine Private Hire Monthly, Hartlepool’s hackney carriage tariffs remain “some of the lowest in the country”.

The increases would only be for Hartlepool’s yellow hackney cabs using designated taxi ranks and would not apply to private hire vehicles.

Neil Handisides, a town taxi driver and member of Taxi Owners Workers Group, explained the reasons for the new fares.

He said: "On a Sunday we used to work on what's called tariff 2 which we have had for the last 20 to 30 years or so.

"When we got an increase last year, for whatever reason we didn't get tariff 2 on a Sunday so we are asking for it back.

"It's not really an increase, it's just to level things back to what they were."

Neil said the increases for the run up to and over Christmas are due to longer journey times.

"Because of the traffic before and during Christmas and New Year it is taking half a hour to do a five or ten minute job," he said.

"That's why we are asking for that."