Sussex taxi drivers may quit over licence fee rises
Taxi drivers in Lewes and Eastbourne may have no choice but to leave the industry after licensing fees were increased by 50% with some additional charges up by 66%, a union representative has said.James Kiernan, a Lewes taxi driver of almost 25 years and the Unite union rep for Lewes and Eastbourne, said drivers would think twice about renewing their licences.Councillors at Lewes District Council and Eastbourne Borough Council voted last week to bring in the new fees from 1 April, but customer fares have not increased since 2021.In a joint statement, the councils said increases were approved to address budget pressures related to taxi licensing, increased CCTV data control costs and, in Lewes, work to reduce a backlog in new applications.
A driver's licence will increase by £60 a year, from £120.75 to £181.13, while a vehicle license will rise by more than £100, from £205.50 to £308.50.The English language test retake fee has gone up by 66%, from £68.25 to £113.20.Fares on the other hand have not gone up since 2021. Drivers applied to the councils for a fare increase last summer but said they were still waiting for the council to launch a public consultation into any proposed changes.Mr Kiernan said drivers would struggle to absorb hundreds of pounds of additional fees so soon after spending about £700 to install CCTV in their vehicles after both councils made it mandatory.He said: "We've certainly got a handful of drivers that I know of who are already looking for work before their licences run out."Vulnerable people won't be able to get a taxi, won't be able to get their lifts to the shops, to the town, to stations.""The department needs to explain itself as to why it costs so much to run that department, because it's a lot of money. We would like to see it audited."
In a joint statement, Lewes District Council and Eastbourne Borough Council said the increased fees had been approved "following full consideration of multiple factors".It continued: "These are being introduced to address budget pressures related to taxis in our roles as licensing authorities, and to cover the increased operational costs associated with CCTV data control."Additionally in Lewes district, they will fund extra resources to reduce a backlog in new applications, ensuring a more efficient service for the future."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
30 minutes ago
- Daily Record
John Swinney pledges to do 'everything we can' to save jobs at Alexander Dennis
More than a century of bus manufacture in Falkirk could soon come to an end with cheap imports from China blamed. John Swinney has pledged his Government will do "everything we can" to save jobs at an historic Scots bus manufacturers. Alexander Dennis announced yesterday it planned to centralise its operations in England by closing its two factories in Falkirk, with 400 staff at risk of redundancy. Such a move would bring to an end more than a century of bus building in the area after the firm's owners blamed competition from China for making it uncompetitive. The announcement is a fresh blow for the Falkirk district after the recent closure of the refinery in nearby Grangemouth last month. The First Minister told MSPs today: "This issue has been occupying a great deal of the focus and the attention of the Deputy First Minister and I, and the UK Government, since we became aware of the situation over the last few weeks. But Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused the SNP Government of overlooking Scottish industry in favour of ordering buses from China. He pointed to the success of the local bus network in Greater Manchester, which runs a fleet of 160 new vehicles all built in Falkirk. Andy Burnham, the English city's mayor, said the buses were "a bit of Scotland right here in Greater Manchester". Almost all bus services in Scotland are run by private operators who are free to order buses from any manufacturer they choose. Swinney insisted state aid regulations – in the form of the UK-wide Subsidy Control Act – prevented the UK Government from directly procuring from a single supplier like Alexander Dennis. He quoted a joint letter from the UK and Scottish governments, which pledged to 'work closely with Alexander Dennis at this challenging time'. He added: 'That's us indicating that we're keen to do everything we can to find a way through the Subsidy Control Act provisions, so the Government can continue to operate within the law, which we must do, but also, we can support manufacturing in Scotland, which is my priority.' Sarwar hit back: "If John Swinney can't figure out a way to order buses in Scotland, I suggest he picks up the phone to (Greater Manchester Mayor) Andy Burnham and see how he managed to do it. 'Almost five times as many bus orders from Manchester.' Sarwar's claim stems from the second phase of the Scottish Government's green bus initiative ScotZEB, which ordered 44 buses from Alexander Dennis. However, according to a press release from the time, 137 buses were ordered from the firm in the first phase, amounting to a total of 181. Burnham – who has previously visited the Falkirk site – said: "Our iconic Bee Network buses are a bit of Scotland right here in Greater Manchester. "We have over 160 Alexander Dennis buses criss-crossing our city-region every day – connecting our communities to opportunity. "If Greater Manchester can invest in world-class Scottish bus manufacturing, then why can't the SNP Scottish Government?"
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Matheus Cunha details emotional reason he decided on £62.5m Man Utd transfer
Manchester United have completed the £62.5million signing of Matheus Cunha from Wolves. The 26 year-old Brazilian international forward has signed a contract until June 2030, with the option of an additional year. Brazil forward Cunha, United's first signing of the summer window, said: 'It is hard to put into words my feelings about becoming a Manchester United player. Ever since I was a child in Brazil watching Premier League games on TV at my grandmother's house, United was my favourite English team and I dreamed of wearing the red shirt. 'I want to thank my family and everyone who has helped me make that dream a reality. I can't wait for the start of pre-season to get to know my teammates and prepare for the season ahead. 'All my focus is now on working hard to become a valuable part of the team, and helping get this club back to the top.' Jason Wilcox, United's Director of Football, said: 'Bringing in Matheus was one of our main priorities for this summer, so we are delighted to have completed his signing so early in the window. 'He has proved his ability to succeed in the Premier League as one of the most exciting and productive forwards in England during his time at Wolves, and before that in Spain and Germany. 'He has all the qualities we are looking for as we seek to build a strong, dynamic and entertaining team capable of challenging for the biggest honours.' Manchester United have launched their new home kit for the 2025/26 season with an Adidas shirt paying tribute to Old Trafford. Fans can order their Men's, Women's and Kid's shirt today. and Mirror Sport will bring you the very latest updates, pictures and video as soon as possible. check back regularly for updates on this developing story. on Google News, Flipboard, Apple News, Twitter, Facebook or visit The Mirror homepage.
Rhyl Journal
an hour ago
- Rhyl Journal
Council tax bills set to rise at fastest rate for two decades, economist warns
Paul Johnson said that local government in England did 'perhaps a little bit better than it might have expected' out of the Chancellor's statement on Wednesday, but the 'sting in the tail' is the assumption that 'council tax bills will rise by 5% a year' as part of the funding. The core spending power of councils is set to increase by 2.6% a year from next year, and 'if English councils do choose 5% increases – and most almost certainly will – council tax bills look set to rise at their fastest rate over any parliament since 2001-05', Mr Johnson said on Thursday. On Wednesday, Ms Reeves said that ministers will not be 'going above' the 5% annual increases in council tax. She told ITV: 'The previous government increased council tax by 5% a year, and we have stuck to that. We won't be going above that. 'That is the council tax policy that we inherited from the previous government, and that we will be continuing.' The biggest winner from Wednesday's statement was the NHS, which will see its budget rise by £29 billion per year in real terms. Ruth Curtice, the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, has said that Britain is turning into a 'National Health State'. Overnight, the think tank said Ms Reeves' announcements had followed a recent trend that saw increases for the NHS come at the expense of other public services. Ms Curtice said: 'Health accounted for 90% of the extra public service spending, continuing a trend that is seeing the British state morph into a National Health State, with half of public service spending set to be on health by the end of the decade.' Defence was another of Wednesday's winners, Ms Curtice said, receiving a significant increase in capital spending while other departments saw an overall £3.6 billion real-terms cut in investment. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) made similar arguments about 'substantial' investment in the NHS and defence coming at the expense of other departments, although Mr Johnson warned on Wednesday the money may not be enough. In his snap reaction to the review, Mr Johnson said: 'Aiming to get back to meeting the NHS 18-week target for hospital waiting times within this Parliament is enormously ambitious – an NHS funding settlement below the long-run average might not measure up. 'And on defence, it's entirely possible that an increase in the Nato spending target will mean that maintaining defence spending at 2.6% of GDP no longer cuts the mustard.' Ms Curtice added that low and middle-income families had also done well out of the spending review 'after two rounds of painful tax rises and welfare cuts', with the poorest fifth of families benefiting from an average of £1,700 in extra spending on schools, hospitals and the police. She warned that, without economic growth, another round of tax rises was likely to come in the autumn as the Chancellor seeks to balance the books. She said: 'The extra money in this spending review has already been accounted for in the last forecast. 'But a weaker economic outlook and the unfunded changes to winter fuel payments mean the Chancellor will likely need to look again at tax rises in the autumn.' Speaking after delivering her spending review, Ms Reeves insisted she would not have to raise taxes to cover her spending review. She told GB News: 'Every penny of this is funded through the tax increases and the changes to the fiscal rules that we set out last autumn.' Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described rising health spending as a 'conundrum', with a similar approach having been taken 'again and again' as she spoke at a business conference in central London on Thursday morning. In reference to a pro-Brexit campaign stunt, Mrs Badenoch said: 'I mean, who remembers the side of a red bus that said 'we're going to give the NHS £350 million more a week'? 'Many people don't know that we did that. We did do that, and yet, still we're not seeing the returns. 'We've put more and more money in, and we're getting less and less out.' The Government have not explained how and why the NHS will be better as a result of its spending plans, the Tory leader added, and claimed the public know 'we need to start talking about productivity reforms, public sector reforms'.
