APPENDIX B: REPORT ON CONSULTATION
AUGUST 2022
This report includes the following:
BACKGROUND TO THE ENGAGEMENT
METHODOLOGY
ENGAGEMENT COMMUNICATION
SURVEY AND FULL RESULTS
ENGAGEMENT COMMUNICATION
A copy of the email
notification is provided below.
Subject: Proposed Taxi Tariff for Vale of White Horse: have your say
Dear [NAME]
You may recall that in March 2021 we asked for your views on some
proposed changes to our Joint Taxi Licensing Policy. You can view
the adopted policy on our
website. As part of that
process, we received some requests to review the tariff to ensure
it was set at an appropriate level.
We looked at the previous tariff set in 2014 and adjusted the
figures to take into account inflation since that date. We have
also reduced the number of tariffs by introducing a new charge for
additional passengers in vehicles which carry more than four
passengers.
We would now like to know what you think of the
new proposed
tariff.
This consultation runs from Wednesday 29 June
until midnight on Wednesday 3 August 2022.
As the cost of living continues to increase, we are open to
reviewing the tariff again within the next 12 months.
How to comment
The quickest and easiest way to comment is to click here to use
our online
comment form.
Note that this is a unique link just for you and is tied to your
email address. If you would like to forward this message to anybody
else, please refer them to the public link to the
survey.
Drop-in session
If you would like to discuss the tariff with one or our licensing
officers before providing your comments, please come along to our
drop-in session at Great
Western Park Community Centre on Tuesday
5 July between 1pm and 4pm.
What happens next
Once the consultation period ends, we will collate and review all
the responses. The process for adopting the new tariff is as
follows:
Once the new tariff
comes into place, you will need to update your taxi meter with your
meter company representative. We will allow a period of 1 month for
this to be done. The garage will check and seal your meter at the
time of your next compliance test.
We will publish the new tariff, along with the consultation
statement and a consultation summary report on our website.
We look forward to hearing your views.
Kind regards
Laura Driscoll
Licensing Team Leader
Vale of White Horse District Council
If you have any
questions about the proposed tariff, please
email licensing.unit@whitehorsedc.gov.uk or
call 01235 422556 (you will need to leave your name and number and
we will call you back).
If you have any queries about the survey or require it in an
alternative format (for example: large print, Braille, audio,
email, Easy Read or alternative languages) please
email haveyoursay@southandvale.gov.uk or
call 01235 422425.
Opt out: If you do not wish to receive emails like this
from us, please email licensing.unit@whitehorsedc.gov.uk or
call 01235 422556. Please note, we may still need to contact you
for certain consultations if we have a legal obligation to do
so.
Data protection: Please refer to our privacy policy
regarding how your personal data is used for this consultation,
available on the consultation page of our
website. If you would like to
know more about the council’s data protection registration or
to find out about your personal data, please
visit our
website.
SURVEY AND FULL RESULTS
A copy of the survey is provided below which includes the full results alongside an officer response.
This survey is aimed at taxi drivers and proprietors licensed by the district council. If you're an individual/ member of the public and would like to comment, you can do so by completing the general comments box at the end of the survey.
You may recall that
in March 2021 we asked for your views on some proposed changes to
our Joint Taxi Licensing Policy. As part of that process, we
received some requests to review the tariff to ensure it was set at
an appropriate level.
We looked at the previous tariff set in 2014 and adjusted the
figures to take into account inflation since that date. We have
also reduced the number of tariffs by introducing a new charge for
additional passengers in vehicles which carry more than four
passengers.
We would now like to know what you think of the
new proposed
tariff.
This consultation runs from Wednesday 29 June
until midnight on Wednesday 3 August 2022.
As the cost of living continues to increase, we are open to
reviewing the tariff again within the next 12 months.
Drop-in session
If you would like to discuss the tariff with one or our licensing
officers before providing your comments, please come along to our
drop-in session at Great Western
Park Community Centre on Tuesday 5
July between 1pm and 4pm.
What happens next?
Once the consultation period ends, we will collate and review all the responses. The process for adopting the tariff is as follows:
· If we receive any objections to the tariff, we will need to refer the matter to Cabinet for review. This would take place at the end of September 2022 and we could not adopt the tariff until after that meeting has taken place.
· If we do not receive any objections, the tariff will take effect in Vale of White Horse from 4 August 2022.
Once the tariff
comes into place, you will need to update your taxi meter with your
meter company representative. We will allow a period of 1 month for
this to be done. The garage will check and seal your meter at
the time of your next compliance test.
We will publish the tariff, along
with the consultation statement and a consultation summary report
on our website.
Queries?
If you have any questions about the
proposed tariff or require the documents in an alternative format
(for example large print, Braille, audio, email, Easy Read and
alternative languages), please email licensing.unit@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
or
call 01235 422556.
Personal details
If you are responding as
a driver or proprietor you are required to provide either
your name, or trading name and email address to ensure we can
contact you if we require any further clarification on your
comments. If you are responding as a individual/member of the
public, or other you do not need to provide this information
but can do so if you wish. Any personal information you provide to
the council within your comments that could identify you will not
be published in the consultation report. Further information on
data protection is available
in our privacy
statement.
By clicking 'next page' you
confirm you are happy for your response to be used in the survey
analysis and results. Your responses may be included as valid
answers, even if you do not click 'finish' at the end of the
survey.
A bit about you...
1. Are you responding as: |
||||||||||
Answer Choices |
Response Percent |
Response Total |
||||||||
1 |
a driver/proprietor licensed by the district council |
|
93.48% |
43 |
||||||
2 |
an individual/member of the public |
|
2.17% |
1 |
||||||
3 |
Other (please specify): |
|
4.35% |
2 |
||||||
answered |
46 |
|||||||||
skipped |
0 |
|||||||||
Other (please specify): (2) |
||||||||||
|
2. Which district council are you licensed by? |
|||||
Answer Choices |
Response Percent |
Response Total |
|||
1 |
Vale of White Horse |
|
95.35% |
41 |
|
2 |
South Oxfordshire |
|
4.65% |
2 |
|
3 |
Both |
0.00% |
0 |
||
4 |
Another council |
0.00% |
0 |
||
answered |
43 |
||||
skipped |
3 |
3. Please provide either your name, or trading name: |
|||
Answer Choices |
Response Percent |
Response Total |
|
1 |
Responses have been removed |
100.00% |
36 |
4. Please provide your email address:
We ask for your email address to ensure we can contact you if we require any further clarification on your comments. Further information on data protection is available in our privacy statement. |
|||
Answer Choices |
Response Percent |
Response Total |
|
1 |
Responses have been removed |
100.00% |
34 |
Proposed tariffs
This section of the survey could only be answered by drivers and proprietors.
We are asking for your views on three proposed tariffs depending on:
· time of day
· day of the week
· holidays
The tariff only
applies to journeys which start and finish within Vale of White
Horse district, not for journeys to destinations outside of the
district.
You can view
the proposed
tariff documents here.
If you wish to compare these figures
with other tariffs, the Private Hire Trade Monthly magazine
produces a monthly table of all council tariffs which you can
access here.
Please note, If we receive
any objections to the tariff, we will need to refer the matter to
Cabinet for review. This would take place at the end of
September 2022 and we could not adopt the tariff until after that
meeting has taken place. If we do not receive any objections, the
tariff will take effect in Vale of White Horse from 4 August
2022.
5. Overall, how far do you agree
or disagree with the proposed tariff?
6. You have disagreed with the proposed tariff for Vale of White Horse. To help us understand your reason(s) why, please answer the following statements.
Proposed tariff times, days and dates
Strongly agree |
Agree |
Neither agree nor disagree |
Disagree |
Strongly disagree |
I don't know |
No comment |
Response Total |
0.00% |
8.00% |
8.00% |
32.00% |
48.00% |
0.00% |
4.00% |
25 |
Minimum charge (‘flag fall’) for each tariff
Strongly agree |
Agree |
Neither agree nor disagree |
Disagree |
Strongly disagree |
I don't know |
No comment |
Response Total |
0.00% |
0.00% |
4.00% |
24.00% |
68.00% |
0.00% |
4.00% |
25 |
Subsequent distance charge
Strongly agree |
Agree |
Neither agree nor disagree |
Disagree |
Strongly disagree |
I don't know |
No comment |
Response Total |
0.00% |
0.00% |
4.00% |
28.00% |
64.00% |
0.00% |
4.00% |
25 |
Waiting time charge
Strongly agree |
Agree |
Neither agree nor disagree |
Disagree |
Strongly disagree |
I don't know |
No comment |
Response Total |
0.00% |
0.00% |
12.00% |
32.00% |
52.00% |
0.00% |
4.00% |
25 |
Charge per additional passenger when carrying 5+ passengers
Strongly agree |
Agree |
Neither agree nor disagree |
Disagree |
Strongly disagree |
I don't know |
No comment |
Response Total |
0.00% |
0.00% |
8.00% |
20.00% |
68.00% |
4.00% |
0.00% |
25 |
7. If you have any comments on the above statements, please provide your comments below.
ID number |
Comments |
Officer response |
Tariff should start from about £5.70 and subsequently 30-35p , same for waiting time |
This would result in a 2 mile tariff 1 fare of £8.70 to £9.20 which would place us 6th highest in the country. |
|
195377497 |
Minimum fare £6 and £3/mile
|
Using the figures suggested on the left would result in a 2 mile tariff 1 fare of £9 which would place us 6th highest in the country. |
196747202 196752602 196752799 196771613 196969788 196973571 196976040 196976211 196976250 196976265 196976387 197052802 197053193 197053237 197053291 196976285
|
Dear Sir / Madam, |
The survey is the consultation route along with the newspaper notice, public notice at the office, newsletter, drop in session and rank visits conducted. Given there are almost 700 hackney carriages and over 1000 drivers licensed by the two districts, having a meeting with all drivers is not viable. The council is not aware of any drivers’ association and will make contact separately for future reference. |
196952363 |
I am writing this email to you
after attending the consultation on Tuesday 5th July about the
proposed new tariffs. To be honest it was a lot of people all
shouting at and nothing really being
discussed. Most definitely there needs to be a tariff increase
& I really don’t think having gone over the proposal that
the increase is enough. In particular the main issue I have is with
the tariff increases for 6 seaters & up. I am going to give you
an example of why I disagree with this, on Saturday 2nd July I took
6 people from Bella Napoli in Abingdon to Courtyard of Marriott,
Milton gate. |
As outlined above, officers do not support additional separate tariffs for MPVs to use when they are carrying more than four passengers, as this could be open to fraud as the driver would be able to select the tariff at any time. However in view of the concerns outlined in the response, officers are happy to propose an increase to the ‘extra’ charge per passenger to £1.50. |
194993049 |
Tariff 1 should be minimum of
£6. |
Setting the flag fall to £6 and distance charge to £0.30 would result in a 2 mile tariff 1 fare of £9.00 which would place us 6th in the country. |
195321149 |
This year we have seen a 90% increase in fuel so far. Doubling of tyre costs. A massive increase in new and second hand car costs nearly double in some cases. 18 months off work due to Covid & crippling inflation. Tariff one of £5.40 Flag and £2.70 a mile is lower than anyone currently charges in South Oxford Region. We used these exact Tariffs 12 years ago in 2010. I propose to change Tariff 1 to £6.20 Flag and £3.25 a mile to keep up with inflation for both Vale and S.O.D.C. Councils. |
Setting the flag fall to £6.20 and distance charge to £0.325 would result in a 2 mile tariff 1 fare of £9.45 which would place us 6th in the country. |
196969788 |
It is NOT the councils job to set
a tariff they believe is correct but to account for those running
businesses to be enabled to make a profit. |
Given there are almost 700 hackney carriages and over 1000 drivers licensed by the two districts, having a face to face meeting with all drivers is not viable. We have conducted an online/postal survey, placed the newspaper notices required by law, held a drop in session and conducted a number of rank visits during the consultation period.
Increases in vehicle and operator licence fees are advertised in local newspapers as per the requirements of section 70 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976. In addition a notice is displayed at the council offices. The standard vehicle licence plate fee was £310 in 2014 and is now £341 which is an increase of 10%.
|
Proposed tariffs
This section of the survey could only be answered by individuals / members of the public.
We are proposing three new tariffs depending on:
· time of day
· day of the
· week holidays
The tariff only applies to journeys which start and finish within Vale of White Horse district, not for journeys to destinations outside of the district. The tariff also doesn't apply for pre-booked journeys.
You can view the proposed tariff document here.
If you wish to compare these figures with other tariffs, the Private Hire Trade Monthly magazine produces a monthly table of all council tariffs which you can access here.
8. If you have any comments on the tariff, please provide them below.
ID number |
Comments |
Officer response |
196910754 |
Considering the cost of fuel and cost of living the tariff you are trying to set is too low |
The figures proposed in the consultation tariff put Vale of White Horse joint 16th highest tariff (out of 349 councils) for a two mile journey on Tariff 1. |
195517557 |
This increases does not reflect inflation, and with these we will not be able to find taxis through night, another tariff needed through night please. Also no minibuses will oparate for weddings etc, no incentives for them in this tariff. |
The figures proposed in the consultation were based on an inflationary rise. There are different tariffs depending on the time of day so there is already a proposed ‘night’ tariff. |
Anything else?
9. If you have any other comments on the proposed tariff, please provide them below.
ID number |
Comments |
Officer response |
196000663 |
I have just seen the proposed
tariff charges and my personal thoughts are that they are too high,
I'd be in favour of leaving them as they are, elderly people such
as OAP's would be impacted the most, so on that basis I'd prefer to
stay as we are. |
It is a useful point to bear in mind that if hackney carriages are perceived to be too expensive, people may choose alternatives. |
194470070 |
looking at the cost of taxi and inflation I think it should be more than the proposed tariff. It is still very cheap. A minimum journey should be £8.00 |
The figures proposed in the consultation tariff put Vale of White Horse joint 16th highest tariff (out of 349 councils) for a two mile journey on Tariff 1. Setting the flag fall to £8 would result in a 2 mile tariff 1 fare of £10.70 which would place us 2nd highest in the country. |
196752602 |
It will take more driver out of business.
|
There is insufficient detail to be able to respond to this comment. |
195412023 195429283
|
Times: |
The different timings proposed are based on a higher rate for unsociable hours and officers would not support a large number of tariffs that could confuse customers. As outlined above, officers do not support additional separate tariffs for MPVs to use when they are carrying more than four passengers, as this could be open to fraud as the driver would be able to select the tariff at any time. However in view of the concerns outlined in the response, officers are happy to propose an increase to the ‘extra’ charge per passenger to £1.50. Officers are also happy to increase the soiling charge to £150. Increasing the tariff 1 distance charge to £0.30 to achieve the £3 per mile would result in a 2 mile tariff 1 fare of £8.40 which would place us joint 7th highest in the country. The waiting time proposed in the consultation tariff is a rate of approximately £16.20 an hour. |
195321149 |
This year we have seen a 90% increase in fuel so far. Doubling of tyre costs. A massive increase in new and second hand car costs nearly double in some cases. 18 months off work due to Covid & crippling inflation. Tariff one of £5.40 Flag and £2.70 a mile is lower than anyone currently charges in South Oxford Region. We used these exact Tariffs 12 years ago in 2010. I propose to change Tariff 1 to be minimum £6.00 Flag and £3.00 a mile to keep up with inflation for both Vale and S.O.D.C. Councils. |
The figures proposed in the consultation tariff were based on an inflationary rise. Using the figures suggested on the left would result in a 2 mile tariff 1 fare of £9 which would place us 6th highest in the country. |
194993049 |
The charge of £1per passenger when carrying more than is absolutely unacceptable.
|
This change is proposed to avoid the need for additional separate tariffs for MPVs to use when they are carrying more than four passengers, as this could be open to fraud as the driver would be able to select that tariff at any time. |
194540007 |
What I think minimum fare should be at least £6 on tariff 1 because how the rise of fuel price gone up. At least 30 pence 161 metre. Thanks |
Setting the flag fall to £6 and distance charge to £0.30 would result in a 2 mile tariff 1 fare of £9.00 which would place us 6th highest in the country. |
194535702 |
The issue of 5 passenger or more, should be traffic 2.
|
As outlined above, officers do not support additional separate tariffs for MPVs to use when they are carrying more than four passengers, as this could be open to fraud as the driver would be able to select the tariff at any time. |
194526757 |
I agree with the flag fall, but would like to see the distance charge at a round figure |
Increasing the tariff 1 distance charge to £0.30 (the nearest round figure) would result in a 2 mile tariff 1 fare of £8.40 which would place us joint 7th highest in the country. |
194469367 |
Agree with all increases but as
an mpv vehicle owner totally disagree on adding a pound extra per
person regardless of distance. |
As outlined above, officers do not support additional separate tariffs for MPVs to use when they are carrying more than four passengers, as this could be open to fraud as the driver would be able to select the tariff at any time. However in view of the concerns outlined in the response, officers are happy to propose an increase to the ‘extra’ charge per passenger to £1.50. |
196910754 |
You guys have put all the prices up on plates and other bits and bobs but the tariff is too low |
The figures proposed in the consultation tariff put Vale of White Horse joint 16th highest tariff (out of 349 councils) for a two mile journey on Tariff 1. |
Our commitment to equal access for all
We are committed to making sure that residents have equal access to all council services. Please help us to keep track of how successfully we are achieving this by ticking the appropriate boxes below.
All questions are optional. All information is confidential and will only be used to help us monitor whether views differ across the community.
10. So we can understand if we have reached everyone we need to, please tell us the first part of your postcode in the box below, e.g., OX10
34 respondents provided us with a postcode and the results are shown below.
Buckinghamshire |
Oxfordshire |
HP1 |
OX1 (X3) OX2 (X4) OX4 (X3) OX11 OX12 (X2) OX13 (X4) OX14 (X12)
SN7 (X4) |
11. Which of the following describes how you identify yourself?
12. How old are you?
13. What is your ethnic group? |
|||||
Answer Choices |
Response Percent |
Response Total |
|||
White |
|||||
1 |
English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, British |
|
35.29% |
12 |
|
2 |
Irish |
0.00% |
0 |
||
3 |
Gypsy or Irish Traveller |
0.00% |
0 |
||
4 |
Any other white background |
|
8.82% |
3 |
|
Asian or Asian British |
|||||
5 |
Indian |
|
5.88% |
2 |
|
6 |
Pakistani |
|
17.65% |
6 |
|
7 |
Bangladeshi |
|
14.71% |
5 |
|
8 |
Chinese |
0.00% |
0 |
||
9 |
Any other Asian background |
|
2.94% |
1 |
|
Black or Black British |
|||||
10 |
Caribbean |
0.00% |
0 |
||
11 |
African |
|
5.88% |
2 |
|
12 |
Any other black background |
0.00% |
0 |
||
Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Groups |
|||||
13 |
White and Black Caribbean |
0.00% |
0 |
||
14 |
White and Black African |
0.00% |
0 |
||
15 |
White and Asian |
0.00% |
0 |
||
16 |
Any other mixed background |
|
2.94% |
1 |
|
Other Ethnic Group |
|||||
17 |
Arab |
0.00% |
0 |
||
18 |
Other (please specify): |
|
5.88% |
2 |
|
answered |
34 |
||||
skipped |
12 |
Other (please specify):
· Prefer not to say
· White European
14. Are your day to day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted or is expected to last 12 months or more? |
|||||
Answer Choices |
Response Percent |
Response Total |
|||
1 |
Yes |
|
5.56% |
2 |
|
2 |
No |
|
88.89% |
32 |
|
3 |
Prefer not to say |
|
5.56% |
2 |
|
answered |
36 |
||||
skipped |
10 |
END.