Mayor calls time on illegal taxi touts
30-9-2003 ID21 A new campaign to help Londoners get home safely from the West End was launched today by the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, the Metropolitan Police and TV presenter Sarah Cawood. Last year more than 80 per cent of sexual offences committed by illegal minicab drivers were linked to cabs picked up in the West End. The new campaign includes an information blitz for people out and about in Soho and Piccadilly, a best practice guide for pubs and clubs and increased police enforcement activities. Mayor of London Ken Livingstone launched licensing for minicab operators in 2001 and in June this year made it an offence to drive a minicab without a licence. At a presentation to some of the first minicab drivers to gain their licences, the Mayor said: “I am very concerned that many Londoners don’t realise the risks they take by picking up a minicab in the street. To help Londoners stay safe, I am working to ensure minicab operators and drivers are licensed, I have increased the number of black cabs out on the street and got a police presence and CCTV installed on night buses. “But still too many people take a risk with illegal minicabs driven by touts. This new information campaign and extra funding for more high-profile operations to tackle touting in the West End will reduce that risk. “It is time that minicab touting became a recordable offence and I have written to the Home Secretary asking him to approve the necessary regulations.” Findings from a Transport for London survey of Londoners out late in central London, published today, reveals how more people need to pay attention to the dangers posed by illegal minicab touts. - Almost half believed that minicabs are allowed to pick up them up if approached by the passenger in the street;
- Nearly a quarter thought that minicabs drivers could approach customers for business; and
- Two thirds of people who got a minicab out on the street were approached by the driver.
The “Know what you’re getting into” campaign will appeal directly to people out and about in the West End over the next month - use a black cab, book a licensed minicab or take a Night bus. The travel information line and TfL web site are good sources of advice for licensed minicab operators and Night bus routes – 020 7222 1234 or www.tfl.gov.uk. A best practice guide for pubs and clubs in the West End was also launched today, providing useful information to help clientele have a safer journey home. Metropolitan Police Commander Jo Kaye said: “In the past 12 months my team of dedicated officers have carried out 100 intelligence led operations supported by their colleagues on borough and from Operation Sapphire. These have resulted in a massive number of vehicles being taken off the road and some 500 arrests have been made, including touting, fraud and possession of offensive weapons. “Building on our successful tactics already in place, our Clubs and Vice Unit have visited over 200 clubs in Westminster to explain the various options available to them on how they can help their customers to get home safely. Last year we launched the public awareness campaign “Know what you’re getting into” with the Mayor and City of London police. “We are determined to protect everybody travelling in and around London in particular women, and are lobbying to make touting a recordable offence. We will continue to do all we can to work in partnership to make London the safest city as possible for visitors, residents, party-goers and tourists.” TV presenter Sarah Cawood said: “It is all too easy to fall out of a club or gig and into the first available car around. It is a risk not worth taking with your own safety. Don’t trust the touts to get you home – it isn’t worth the risk.’ Suzy Lamplugh Trust spokesperson Elizabeth Lyell said: “It is really important that everyone realises just how dangerous these illegal minicabs are. People who use them are getting into unregistered and often unroadworthy cars with total strangers, so it is not surprising that the number of serious crimes, especially rapes and sexual assaults, being committed is so high. “We are really pleased that the Mayor is tackling this problem in such a positive way and we hope that the “Know what you’re getting into” campaign will help to remove this menace from the streets of the West End.” Councillor Colin Barrow, Cabinet member for Transport at Westminster City Council, said: “Unlicensed minicabs are very dangerous for female passengers to travel in and are a blight on London’s night-time economy. They clog up the streets, hold up traffic and are often unroadworthy. “Westminster City Council would urge all visitors to central London to starve this illegal activity of customers by supporting licensed transport operators. “The council is using every way possible to improve the safety of travel at night. It has undertaken a variety of initiatives ranging from a state-of-the-art CCTV system to City Guardian wardens to make visiting central London even safer.” Notes to Editors
1. It is an offence, in a public place, to solicit persons to hire vehicles to carry them as passengers. Anybody who does this is a tout. This means it is illegal for a minicab driver to accept a fare if they have not been pre-booked (in other words, they cannot be hailed on the street in the same way as a black cab). A minicab is only operating legally if it is pre-booked through a private hire operator (by making the booking in person, by telephone or via the internet). 2. Preliminary results from interviews with 605 people out and about in London are attached. 3. The £100,000 campaign features posters at bus stops and Tube exits, messages in late night venues on glasses, washroom doors, mirrors, and advice cards and promotional staff with advice on getting home safely at key locations in the West End. The advertising builds on the “Safer Travel at Night” campaign launched by the Mayor in partnership with the Met Police and City of London police last year. 4. The Mayor announced an extra £25 million for the Transport Operational Command Unit on 3rd September. This included funding for more officers to the cab enforcement team and an extension of policing on buses with the scope to deliver 24-hour coverage any where in London where it is decided a policing presence is needed. 5. Since 2001 minicab operators must hold a valid licence from the Public Carriage Office to run a service. Since 1st June 2003 it is an offence to drive a minicab without a private hire driving licence or a temporary permit issued by the PCO. Licensing of vehicles will start in Spring 2004. 6. Since 2002, 60 operators have been taken to court for operating without a licence. The PCO employs 28 licensing officers who undertake 600 compliance inspections between them a month. 7. Making touting a recordable offence will mean that anyone arrested will have fingerprints and DNA samples taken, and would be identified on national police records. For more information telephone TfL press office on 020 7941 4881 or 020 7941 4141 (and for out-of-hours).
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