Lack of taxis causing loss of income in town centre says council leader

Council leader Sir Steve Houghton CBE, leader of the council, told last week’s (February 1) full council meeting that there is ‘no doubt’ that the town needs more taxi drivers.

“We are seeing a loss of income into the town because people fear they can’t get a taxi home on a night ,” he said.

“One of the reasons is safety and security, particularly for drivers. And particularly for those drivers who are not private hire but can pick up off the streets. We have seen taxi drivers operate during the day but not on an evening or a the weekend.

“We’ve got to try and combat that. And I’m pleased to say there is a report on the next Combined Authority where we’ve asked for funding from the sustainable transport part to provide free cameras in everyride and we will provide that extra camera security which will help both drivers and customers

“I’ll fight tooth and nail at the Combined Authority next week to make sure they agreed and hopefully if they do, we can sit down then with the association’s and look at how we maybe can expand that even further.

Because one of the things clearly for any taxi driver these days, is being able to go to work knowing you will be safe.”

Councillor Steve Green, chair of the licensing board, added that other councillors had raised concerns about ‘the amount of taxis working in Barnsley over the weekend’, and also the number of drivers licenced with other local authorities working within the borough.

A report shows that during a night time operation by licensing officers in Barnsley in December, all 19 taxis inspected were licensed by other local authorities, including Wolverhampton, Sheffield, Chesterfield and Bradford.

Coun Green added that taxi firm Veezu, formerly City Taxis, prioritise Barnsley drivers for jobs in the borough.