Call Sign August 2008 - Page 12 - TAXIS BOYCOTT BUCK HOUSE WITH PCO THERE!

While the weather in July wasn’t overly good, nothing stops the Queen’s Garden Parties at Buckingham Palace. They can cause some extra traffic, but most agree that they add colour to London. But the party on Tuesday 15 July saw something of a problem as it ended – and that problem involved taxis, an LTDA marshal and the PCO. As usual for those parties, the LTDA provided marshals to help keep the huge queue organised and to make sure that there is no free-for-all involving the morning suit brigade – many of who are probably regular taxi users. Council of Management member and TAXI columnist, Steve McNamara was marshalling on this occasion and according to him, everything was going well. On occasion, he’d ask a Dial-a-Cab driver to see whether a message could go out on our terminals asking for drivers to help out at the palace and these went out. When Call Sign phoned Steve to see how things were going, he said the queue was long and there was plenty of work, but that everything was under control. But at around 6pm came the first sign of trouble. DaC driver Kevin McDonald (H14) was about to go onto the rank, but instead sent a message saying that Steve McNamara had closed the Buckingham Palace rank because three PCO officers had arrived and were issuing stop notes. Kevin told Call Sign: "The rank is something of a cul-de-sac and once on, you are trapped! Steve closed it just as I arrived. He explained why and I could see the officers checking cabs. I don’t think it was the most sensible thing they could have done with so many people waiting to get home." Steve McNamara confirmed the message with Call Sign and told us: "The queue was absolutely huge, but drivers were coming in and taking the work. Several of the passengers were in wheelchairs, but everyone got a cab in turn.	TAXIS BOYCOTT BUCK HOUSE WITH PCO THERE! *Steve McNamara marshalling at the palace*
	Even though the weather was really hot, the queue remained very orderly. Then the PCO turned up. After they had issued two stops, I closed the rank. There was no way I was prepared to wave cabs in, only to see them get a stop note. My colleague pointed out to the Carriage Officers that their presence was having a disruptive effect, but they told him that they were PCO officers and could go where they wanted. That’s when we closed the rank. I have no problem with the PCO and in fact I think they generally do a good job, but surely they could have gone to Victoria Station or the Gatwick Express – even the Coach Station. Why come to the palace and cause what was bound to be a huge disruption when so many were waiting for taxis?" As Steve put his own stop onto the rank, the Queen’s Equerry came out to see what was happening. "The Palace were very understanding," said Steve, "I think they know what a good job the trade normally does in helping to clear passengers following the parties." Another DaC driver told Call Sign that the PCO left at around 6.35 after being asked to do so by the police who were becoming concerned at the number of people milling around looking for taxis. The police then asked DaC drivers to put messages out that the PCO had gone and could they assist in clearing the queue. According to the PCO, one	driver asked to stop by the compliance team turned out to have neither a PCO licence nor a DVLA licence. In other words he wasn’t a taxi driver at all! A TfL spokesperson for the Public Carriage Office told Call Sign: "As part of our work to ensure London’s taxis maintain their reputation for excellence, the Public Carriage Office carries out regular on-street checks of random vehicles. Our compliance team will always make every effort to minimise disruption to taxi drivers stopped for checks and vehicles are only pulled over where it is safe to do so without disrupting other traffic. For a properly licensed driver whose vehicle is in good condition, our checks should never cause more than a few minutes' inconvenience." The spokesperson continued: "In this case, just one driver was asked to pull over because he was unable to produce his licence and his vehicle was in very poor condition; we had in fact already served this cab with an Unfit Notice so it should not have been on the roads at all. The driver was asked to pull over to one side so as not to disrupt the other waiting taxis. Our compliance officers and a passing police officer were surprised by the behaviour of the LTDA marshal who turned away the remaining cabs and taped off the area, causing needless disruption."

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