Taxi fares look likely to rise by 20p a mile – or about 5 per cent – after councillors voted for an increase in line with inflation.
Brighton and Hove Cab Trade Association requested the rise because the price of petrol had gone up 18 per cent since the last fare review in August 2019 and diesel had gone up 9 per cent.
A 14-day public consultation is required by law before the proposed fare rise can take effect, with no date yet set for the higher fares to come in.
If the higher fares are approved, Brighton and Hove will have the eighth-highest fares out of 325 councils. They are currently the 12th highest.
A report to members of Brighton and Hove City Council said that previous increases used a formula based on fuel prices, other vehicle running costs and regional pay rates.
The formula did not take into account the growing number of electric and hybrid vehicles which cost more to buy but had lower running costs.
Trade representative Andrew Peters wrote to the council’s Licensing Committee on behalf of the Brighton and Hove Taxi Trade Forum.
Mr Peters said: “Licence fees are set (to rise) at 2 per cent per year and the council has implemented a 4.99 per cent in local council tax for 2021.
“Additionally, having come out of the period of the pandemic, there is now a great shortage of drivers where either drivers have retired or they have decided not to return to driving a cab although may still remain licensed.
“It should also be noted that the council’s set tariff of fares do not allow for what is known as ‘surge pricing’ which can double and even quadruple fares at ad-hoc times using a well-known national app.”
The reference to Uber reflected the fact that council has no power to set fares for private hire vehicles which have to be pre-booked and which cannot use ranks or be hailed.
Independent councillor Kate Knight said that she was concerned about the effect on people on the lowest incomes who needed a taxi to get to hospital or the doctor.
She said: “I represent Moulsecoomb where there is one of the lowest percentages of residents owning a car anywhere in the country, let alone in the city.
“It’s also an outlying district, so it’s difficult to get into town. The bus service is not particularly reliable once you move away from the city centre.”
Councillor Knight said that the burden would fall on those who could least afford the increases.
Green councillor Marianna Ebel said that only London or areas with airports had higher fares. She said: “The cost of living here is incredibly high already – and we don’t have the London salaries.
“People sometimes rely on taxis, not just for convenience. People with disabilities rely on taxis and are often on low incomes.”
Labour councillor Jackie O’Quinn said that the trade had originally sought a lower rise but inflation was expected to reach 7 per cent this spring.
She said: “We’ve all seen how prices have gone up at the pumps. This makes a great difference.
“For the taxi trade, that impact is huge. The inflation for them is much higher than general inflation would be because the price of oil has gone up so much.
“It’s always been a process of catch up. It is always a bit behind on these things because it takes a long time to go through the process (of putting up fares).”
Conservative councillor Dee Simson said: “In the past, I’ve made noises about how high we were in terms of taxi costs.
“We are and always have been supportive of our taxi trade in the city. We’re very proud of it and we need to maintain it.
“We’ve had issues over the years with other operators coming in, app-based operators who have affected our local tax trade. We don’t want to see the demise of that.”
Labour and Conservative councillors amended the proposed rise at the Licensing Committee at Hove Town Hall to reflect the higher inflation forecast.
The committee voted six to five in favour of consulting the public about the revised proposal, with Green councillor Lizzie Deane, who chairs the committee, abstaining.
If the higher fares are approved, Brighton and Hove will have the eighth-highest fares out of 325 councils. I use taxis much less than I used to. Difficult situation – need to increase fares to cover increasing costs but also will drive customers away. Very difficult for infirm elderly with poor mobility who need to use taxis.
I can not remember the last time i used a taxi as they’re too expensive.
So what do they do to come up with to change this?
The British thing!
Put up the price even higher??
Will continue to avoid using taxis unless absolutely necessary. If I do need a taxi I will prebook private-hire or use Uber.
Do we really have a shortage of cabs, or is it that many drivers find that it is not a profitable occupation?
Do we now increase fares on the basis of what a Councillor predicts inflation will be?
Be careful using UBER, I’ve had two incidents with them. The first was a Driver who wasn’t licenced, said he was but didn’t have his badge on him !!!
The second was insurance, one ran into the back of my car, he didn’t have proper insurance for a licenced taxi only had standard car insurance. So had no insurance to carry passengers…