Suffolk Cabbies Angered by Increase

09/03/2010

Taxi operators in East Anglia have been left asking themselves whether public officials live in the same world as the rest of us.

Cab owners in Sudbury and Hadleigh, in rural Suffolk, were shocked to hear they are to be charged 20% more in licensing fees, in the midst of the economic downturn. Babergh District Council is proposing taxi companies fork out £266 to renew a vehicle license - up from £221 the previous year.

The Council says it needs to recover a £14,000 net deficit in its hackney carriage and private hire licensing function.

Steve Brett, who runs four cabs for SJB Cars in Glemsford, complained: “We can’t pass these costs on to customers because they will just not pay it.  There are so many other forms of transport and people will just catch a bus or walk.”

Council licensing chiefs argue more cash is needed from the trade to cover the costs of running the service.   However many in the trade argue that taxi operators provide a vital service and the Council should carry part of the cost of managing this, on behalf of the public.  Or look at a 20% reduction in its own costs. 

It’s just too easy and too unfair to slap a 20% increase on the trade when we all know times are tough enough already.