Taxi drivers in Northampton set to protest against council's new policy which aims to tighten industry regulations

Taxi drivers in Northampton are set to protest against a new policy proposed by West Northants Council which aims to tighten industry regulations.

The App Drivers and Couriers Union (ACDU) have criticised WNC’s Draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy 2023, which is currently out for public consultation until March 26.

Taxi drivers who are members of the ACDU will protest at Victoria Street car park in the Mounts at 10.30am on Thursday (February 23).

The council says the new policy focuses on improving driver standards; strengthening the "fit and proper person" test; a more rigorous convictions policy; mandatory safeguarding training; spoken English testing; and driving standards training.

Cllr David Smith, cabinet member for community safety and engagement, and regulatory services, said: “The key purpose of this new draft policy is to keep passengers in private hire vehicles and taxis safe.

“A huge amount of work has gone into devising an approach which levels the playing field for drivers and operators across West Northamptonshire.

“We engaged with drivers and operators as part of the process, and this is now out for consultation, which is the most appropriate route for anyone to offer their views and suggestions.

“The licensing team is more than happy to speak with any further taxi and private hire drivers and operators, and representatives acting on their behalf as part of the consultation process, and we would urge them to contact us [email protected] to make arrangements for that.”

However, the ADCU have heavily criticised the policy.

An ADCU spokesman said: “The new rules unfairly targets the industry’s overwhelmingly minority and migrant worker demographic by demanding that all licensees now present the council with certificates of good conduct issued by foreign authorities for all periods of three months or more spent outside the UK since the age of 18. This is an unnecessary, impractical and disproportionate imposition on Northampton’s hardworking minicab drivers. Worse, it is a policy that unfairly singles out migrant workers or those who have close family ties abroad especially in the South Asia region. The requirement will be practically impossible to fulfil for many and in some cases, it could place those who escaped repressive regimes in serious danger.

“Other new rules are so vague that they defy definition and, as such, may be used to target minority workers for unfair penalisation. For example, drivers can be penalised for “not behaving in a civil and orderly manner” without defining what constitutes such behaviour. Drivers can also be penalised for “parking in a position or location which gives the appearance of being for hire”, a requirement that is impossible to objectively define which leaves the measure open to abuse by authorities and minority workers vulnerable to further discrimination.

“In addition, the policy’s new convictions policy is unduly harsh and amounts to an intrusive attack on civil liberties. For example, the council goes beyond actual convictions to treat cautions, fixed penalties and community resolutions as if they were actual convictions. Private hire operator employers are now required to keep a log of and report to the police their mere suspicions of driver involvement in terrorism regardless of how unlikely or unhinged such suspicions might be. This places minority workers under constant scrutiny and disproportionate surveillance by police and intelligence services without due cause.”

Shafqat Shah, Northampton Chair of ADCU says the council’s proposed new rules are ‘ill thought out’ and ‘represents a missed once in a generation opportunity to markedly improve safety and quality of the trade for drivers and passengers’.

Mr Shah said: “Instead of focusing on what matters most for the future of the trade, the council appears to instead have made it a priority to shield bad minicab bosses from worker rights claims while putting safety on the back burner.”

Yaseen Aslam, ADCU President said it is ‘sad and disappointing’ that the council has chosen to include certain elements in the formulation of these new rules.