BAA has now announced the proposed Taxi Feeder Park increase for 2011 which will take effect from August 1 2011. This year's increase is later than usual and, along with the debacle that the trade was subjected to last year, there is controversy over the proposals, yet again.
The RMT response to BAA's proposed TFP increase this year makes it clear that the London taxi trade at Heathrow is no longer prepared to tolerate the continued undermining of its right to protect its own interests against those of a handful of carpet-bagging taxi drivers with the support of BAA.
This year the whole trade is unanimous in its opposition to an increase in the amount of money already handed over to the very unpopular private company, Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Society (HALTS).
In its TFP increase consultation document, BAA proposed an increase of 34pence bringing the entry fee up from £6.30 to £6.64. It was generally accepted that this would be broken down to as follows;
BAA to receive extra 29 pence
taking its part of the TFP up from £5.52 to £5.81
HALTS to receive extra 5pence
taking its part of the TFP up from £0.78 to £0.83
Total: £6.30 £6.64
The anticipated announcement by BAA arrived as scheduled on Monday 11 July with the following;
BAA to receive an extra £0.24
HALTS to receive and extra £0.02
This would bring the TFP entrance fee up to £6.56.
Whilst it is customary for the annual TFP increase to be rather less than that initially proposed, any further increase in the amount paid over to HALTS was dismissed as unacceptable by all trade reps from every trade organisation at Heathrow, bar none. The slogan has been "Not a penny more!"
Despite this BAA has decided, in its infinite wisdom, to inflame an already controversial issue and ignore the wishes of all legitimate trade representatives at Heathrow. It would appear that the taxi trade at Heathrow has had its worst fears confirmed. Those fears are that BAA has chosen to listen to the voice of one person only, and that person has never legally gained the consent of any driver to represent taxi drivers' interests at Heathrow Airport.
For anyone who cannot understand the significance of what this all means I have this to say:
The legitimate rights and privileges that your Bill gives you are being blatantly undermined by a concerted attempt to take away the protection that both the Hackney Carriage Act and the Airports Act gives you. This is not about an extra 2p, this is about the future of the London taxi trade at Heathrow.
The RMT London Taxi Branch (Heathrow) response to the proposed TFP increase can be seen below.
BAA Taxi Feeder Park- Price Review Consultation Document 2011.
RMT Response:
The TFP Price Review Consultation process took place without invitations from BAA for the RMT to attend any meetings convened for the purpose of this important process. Despite this, the RMT London Taxi Branch (Heathrow) has been kept fully informed of the details of all meetings that have taken place through the Taxi Feeder Park Network, and is fully conversant with the issues.
BAA will no doubt be aware by now that the RMT London Taxi Branch (Heathrow), along with HALT members, is in dispute with the Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Limited (HALT) de-facto committee and has taken the first steps in a legal resolution to this problem. With this in mind, it will be apparent that the RMT and HALT members do not recognise the assertion made by either BAA or Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Society (HALTS) that an increase for the part of the TFP entry fee, known as the HALT Levy, should be made.
The RMT London Taxi Branch (Heathrow) does not recognise the legitimacy of any part of the HALT Levy being paid over to any mutual society, industrial and provident co-operative or private limited company, whether limited by shares or guarantee, other than Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Limited (HALT). The right of HALT to raise funds for the provision of taxi information desks through the TFP Levy was established by the Competition Commission (CC) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 2003, and was endorsed by such bodies as Unite (T&G), Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) London Taxi Drivers Club (LCDC) and Heathrow Airport Consultative Committee (HACC).
A Freedom of Information request to the CAA revealed no evidence that it had either endorsed or recommended any changes to this situation, except that it did extract from its files the following;
The terms of the agreement prohibit HALTS from publicising or advertising the terms of the agreement. Providing a copy to third parties could render that term ineffective if the agreement itself were then distributed to persons not bound by that restriction.”
The RMT London Taxi Branch (Heathrow) will advise its membership to continue paying the TFP entry fee with the understanding that it has neither been consulted nor invited to participate in any discussions regarding any increase in the TFP entry fee. Further, that both RMT and HALT members do not recognise the legitimacy of any part of the TFP fee being paid over to HALTS.
RMT London Taxi Branch view on TFP Entry Fee Consultation Process.
The RMT London Taxi Branch considers the TFP consultation process to be flawed and lacking in information provided by BAA to the Heathrow taxi trade community.
The RMT recommends the following for the future:
• All established trade representative organisations to be included in negotiations with BAA.
N.B. Heathrow Airport Licensed Taxis Society is not recognised as a representative trade organisation, but rather a third party contractor. Both the RMT and HALT members strongly object to any payment made to this company through the TFP entry fee.
• A BAA accountant to be available on at least one scheduled meeting with a detailed break-down of the TFP costing. This information must be available to the trade for its own accountants to scrutinise.
• A chairperson to be present at all such meetings.
• Minutes of all taxi trade/BAA meetings to be taken and made available for all taxi trade reps in order to consult their own membership within 7 days of each meeting. Without this there can never be universal agreement on any issue.
• Details of the costs of any third party contractor in the running of the TFP.
• The taxi trade must have more say over the conduct and training of any third party company charged with running the TFP system. At the moment NSL staff is constantly at logger heads with the trade because of a lack of proper training, and the RMT considers that this company does not offer value for money because of inefficient working practices.
The proposal for an extra 5p to be paid over to HALTS has received universal condemnation within the Heathrow taxi trade community, and the RMT recommends that this company does not receive any increase in the monies it already benefits from. It is the opinion of the RMT that to do otherwise would inflame an already controversial issue.
However, the RMT London Taxi Branch is willing to concede to an increase in the component within the TFP entry fee that BAA has asked for. This is in recognition of the fact that the Heathrow taxi trade community has not been able to thoroughly scrutinise the costing of running the TFP on this occasion, and the time now required to so would bring the trade too close to the next TFP consultation period. Therefore, the taxi trade does not expect to pay the extra 5p that HALTS has asked for, but rather is prepared to pay 29p to BAA only, taking the TFP entry fee up to £6.59 from 1st August 2011.
The taxi trade hopes to see this reflected in the BAA TFP entry fee announcement on 11th July 2011.
Michael Moran
RMT Taxi Trade Rep, Heathrow.
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