Peterborough MP 'disappointed' as council votes to mandate use of CCTV in all city taxis despite objections of drivers

Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes has expressed his disappointment after councillors voted to force taxi drivers in the city to install CCTV in their vehicles.

The decision was passed following a lengthy meeting of the city’s Licencing Committee on Thursday night (September 12).

The motion passed after a vote which saw six councillors vote in favour, three against and two abstain.

The outcome means that all hackney carriage and private hire vehicles licenced by the council must now install CCTV cameras, which must remain on at all times when drivers are either taking paid fairs or waiting at a rank. These cameras must cover both the driver and the passenger(s) and the instillation, and upkeep costs must be covered by the drivers themselves.

The scheme will be phased in with drivers having to comply with CCTV instillation to meet the obligations of their licence in no sooner than 12 months and no later than 18 months.

In passing the motion, a number of councillors said that they were following guidance from the Department of Transport that, in the interests of passenger safety, council’s should mandate the use of CCTV except if there are exceptional local circumstances.

Mr Pakes has, however, spoken out against the decision. He said: “I am disappointed that the Licensing Committee has agreed the flawed scheme presented to them.

“Public safety is critical but this is the wrong scheme, one that neither addresses the added costs to drivers, most of whom are small businesses, nor the issue of taxis serving the city from other places who still won't have CCTV.

“I hope that the council will urgently work with taxis drivers in the city to seek a workable compromise that promotes safety and drivers in this difficult business environment."

Mr Pakes had previously published a letter of support for taxi drivers in the city, who overwhelmingly objected to the proposals at the consultation stage.

Following consultations online, via petitions, email, social media and a meeting of the Hackney Carriage (HC) and Private Hire (PH) federations, a total of 678 people came out against the proposals and just 139 in favour.

In his letter, written in May, Mr Pakes said: “The cost of living crisis and rising business costs mean that we need to be sensitive to the pressures drivers are facing.

“The proposals raise significant concerns about the privacy of drivers and passengers, the cost of equipment, cost of instillation and subsequent use.”

In total there are 1797 drivers registered in Peterborough and 113 operators, excluding drivers registered with other authorities including in Lincolnshire, South Kesteven and even Wolverhampton.

Representative from the Peterborough Private Hire Association and Hackney Federation, who spoke passionately against the proposals at the meeting, warned that passing such a decision would see Peterborough lost control of its taxi services.

This would be due to drivers from out of the city, and not required to sing up the the CCTV scheme, being able to undercut the prices of local drivers as well as fill their place if local drivers were forced out of business due to the rising costs. Fears were also raised that drivers would choose not to be licenced by the Peterborough City Council but instead a neighbouring authority but continue to operate in the city.

Drivers have also warned of inevitable fare rises following the decision.

Mr Ali Haider, representative of the trade federations, who spoke at the meeting, also said: “A significant 88% of our members oppose the idea.

"Taxis in Peterborough are among the safest in the country, our drivers and companies use some of the safest systems available to ensure drivers know who they are picking up, users know key information about their driver and tracking is available. Enhanced DBS and licence checks are also regularly carried out.

“One of the biggest concerns is privacy; installing cameras would be intrusive for both drivers and passengers.

“Installing CCTV is also expensive. It is estimated that the industry would face an additional cost of £1.25m if CCTV is mandatory.

"Many of us operate on tight budgets and this would only add to the financial burden. Many drivers are already struggling with the costs of fuel, insurance and vehicle maintenance.

“To many part-time drivers or drivers operating on tight margins, this could force them to leave the profession altogether and reduce the availability of vehicles in the city.

“If drivers and operators have to pay more, fare increases will become inevitable, which isn’t fair to anyone.

“CCTV is not a solution to the problems we face. 240 of us believe that it will not solve the problems we face such as verbal abuse or theft. Recording incidents after the fact doesn’t prevent them from happening in the first place.

“We believe in solutions such as better training for drivers, safeguarding passengers and front screen identification for taxis.”

A majority of the 11 councillors present voted to pass the motion, however, along with the condition that drivers and operators signed up to the scheme would have the ability to advertise the fact they are signed up to the scheme, a form of validation not available to drivers not licenced by the authority.

The committee also resolved to lobby central government to legislate and restrict cross border trade in the taxi industry.

The meeting was streamed live on Peterborough City Council’s Youtube channel.