The cost of using a hackney carriage taxi in Lancaster is set to rise in plans being considered by the City Council later.
Last month, the Council’s Licencing Committee discussed a number of options to change the flag fall (the fixed initial charge incurred at the start of a taxi journey), rolling rate (the incremental charge depending on distance travelled), and yardage charge. All 485 licence holders in the district were informally surveyed, with around a third responding, a number described as ‘exceptional’ by a council report. Private hire operators were also contacted.
96.6% of the 149 respondents wanted an increase to the current tariff with 90.6% wanting any increase to apply to both flag-fall and the rolling rate.
Of the four options, the preferred one going forward for recommendation is one that would see an increase to flag fall, rolling rate and amend yardage applied. Additionally, the soiling charge would be raised to a maximum of £100. In monetary terms, the costs of smaller journeys would be subject to a minor uplift, with journeys over 5 miles being subject to a 10-15% increase. The time and a half/double time rates on this new tariff would see fares raised between 10-24%.
Any approved changes will be subject to a public consultation before they are implemented.
The report to council states: ‘’The pandemic has brought about many challenges for the licensed trade, with many choosing not to renew licenses and seek alternative employment. The licensing service are working with internal and external partners to support the trade and encourage new applicants into the profession through funding.
‘’It is therefore important the fares represent the living wage locally. In addition, any uplift would need to be balanced in terms of public expectation, anything too great would face criticism and potentially result in less work for the hackney carriage trade.
‘’The decision enables officers to undertake an immediate consultation exercise to ensure the fare review is fair and sustainable.’’
Plans will be discussed at a cabinet meeting this evening, to approve the changes, along with a commitment to an annual review of the tariff by way of application of retail price index (RPI) to both flag fall and rolling rate, rounding down figures to the nearest 5p.
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