OBJECTION RESPONSE 1

I am writing to you to place a formal objection to the revised taxi licensing fees. I have been working as a driver for the council for 10 years and licensing fees have been increasing year after year, whilst our cab fares have remained stagnant. The current minimum charge for a taxi is £3.70 , which it has been for years. Comparing this to taxi corporations such as Uber who’s current minimum charge is approximately £7.00, it is becoming increasingly evident that our low cab fares and (once again) increasing licence fees benefit only the council and neglects drivers.

In the current economical climate, with a nation-wide cost of living crisis, please understand how difficult it has become for taxi drivers like myself to maintain the livelihoods of ourselves and our families. Increasing our fees yet our wages remaining stagnant is an incredibly hard hit for us to take and I strongly advise you to revise this decision, taking us the taxi drivers into consideration.

Furthermore, recovering the cost of services by increasing licensing fees is essentially the council proposing that these costs should be covered by taxi drivers, which is very difficult to resonate with.

I look forward to hearing back from you and am awaiting your response.

OBJECTION RESPONSE 2

With regards to your email for proposed fee increases, I would like to object to all of these increases as I can't understand how you can warrant or justify some increases as high as 10% especailly for Driver Private Hire renewal. As being a renewal this surely takes less work as its a completion of a renewal form and if all in order it is then signed and a badge can be issued? It appears to me that once again operators who actually employ there staff and run there own fleet of vehicles are being penalised and having to keep on finding additional monies to fund individuals .

Can I also ask why your DBS costs are much higher than Surrey's and also 5x more than an enhanced DBS which I also get via the FA ?

As you are well aware we are a specialist disabled transport company and pay for all licencing costs for all of our vehicles and employees, but its coming to a point where all these increases and additional red tape being put infront of us is becoming non sustainable. Going back to when we had lockdown due to covid we still had to renew all of our vehicle and driver licences even though you knew we wern't able to trade.....  All you did was give the opition to defer the renewals but then stated that you wouldn't guarantee being able to issue the licences for when our contracts went live again. Therefore leaving us no option but having to renew all licences with no monies coming in. You did mention that there would possibly be a licencing grant which maybe be available but again nothing was approved and was just lip service.

As I believe, being the biggest specailist operator in spelthorne I dont expect to have special treatment, but I also dont expect for spelthorne to money grab off the people that are keeping your borough moving.

I therefore disagree with all increases as they are not warranted.

I trust all is in order and await your advices.