Uber Brighton

[Lord Bracknell]

Uber's licence to operate in Brighton expires next Friday. They say that they have applied to the Council to renew it, but a date to deal with the application has not yet been set.

Their intention when first granted the licence a year ago was to operate in compliance with the Council's private hire vehicle regulations. These require vehicles to meet certain standards and drivers to be registered with the Council and be DBS / CRB checked.

 

[crookie]

Orpington to Tunbridge Wells, late Saturday night, last trains cancelled, offered £50 for a cab, was told no-one would do it for less than £100.

Few weeks later missed last train to T Wells, could get to orpington, signed up to Uber on the train, met at the station, got back for around £28-30, account set up so don't need to mess around finding cash either. What a contrast, be a while before they make there way to T Wells I suppose

 

[Guinness Boy]

There are several other similar cases going through the system right now and MPs are looking into this as well: this is not just a one-off.

Personally, I'm delighted with this and hope it sticks. It shouldn't hit the genuinely self-employed but the false self-employed. I speak from bitter experience here: about seven years ago, my employer told me it was shifting me from paid employment to self-employed and cutting my salary accordingly. I still had to do the same amount of work but I would gain by not having to travel to London and I was 'free' to take on other work - this freedom was illusory though as I didn't really have much time to do any more.

I've since learned that what the company did was illegal and that HMRC are clamping down on companies who do this. The Uber decision is just one part of this process: I'm sure there are going be a lot more

I don't doubt it for a minute but this ruling, in isolation, will certainly not spell the end of Uber as the poster I quoted suggested. It's a preliminary hearing which they are going to appeal, giving them plenty of time to come up with plan B. As per my later post I'd also prefer that they fixed this by paying their workers decently and flattening the fairly large curve between high and low availability fares, using the app's convenience and the quality of their cars as a USP.

Also agree you were treated appallingly. However, aren't Uber drivers fully aware that they will be "self employed" when they take the job, rather than being illegally transferred?

 

[halbpro]

Uber's licence to operate in Brighton expires next Friday. They say that they have applied to the Council to renew it, but a date to deal with the application has not yet been set.

Their intention when first granted the licence a year ago was to operate in compliance with the Council's private hire vehicle regulations. These require vehicles to meet certain standards and drivers to be registered with the Council and be DBS / CRB checked.

I was rather curious about the expiry issue. Are they squeaking in just under the expiry date so they can show they're using it for the renewal?

 

[Chicken Run]

Uber's licence to operate in Brighton expires next Friday. They say that they have applied to the Council to renew it, but a date to deal with the application has not yet been set.

Their intention when first granted the licence a year ago was to operate in compliance with the Council's private hire vehicle regulations. These require vehicles to meet certain standards and drivers to be registered with the Council and be DBS / CRB checked.

I wonder if the City Council will apply the same stringent and thorough checks that they do for our ever growing population of Private Hire/Hackney Carriage drivers in Brighton & Hove........

 

[Gwylan]

I don't doubt it for a minute but this ruling, in isolation, will certainly not spell the end of Uber as the poster I quoted suggested. It's a preliminary hearing which they are going to appeal, giving them plenty of time to come up with plan B. As per my later post I'd also prefer that they fixed this by paying their workers decently and flattening the fairly large curve between high and low availability fares, using the app's convenience and the quality of their cars as a USP.

Also agree you were treated appallingly. However, aren't Uber drivers fully aware that they will be "self employed" when they take the job, rather than being illegally transferred?

Even if the decision is upheld, it won't be the end of Uber, As you said, the company will be working out ways to comply and stay profitable.

And yes, there are some drivers who would be happy to be self-employed but I'm sure there are others who wouldn't be (I saw a survey the other day that suggested 25% of self-employed would rather be employed). I suspect that some happy medium will be struck where Uber employ some drivers and also maintain a pool of self-employed ones. I think there'll be a few big shake-ups in employment law in the coming months - interesting times ahead.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I was rather curious about the expiry issue. Are they squeaking in just under the expiry date so they can show they're using it for the renewal?

Presumably they can only provide the service if they can find drivers who are registered with the City Council. If they are launching at 4.00pm today, this gives them fourteen minutes.

 

[halbpro]

Presumably they can only provide the service if they can find drivers who are registered with the City Council. If they are launching at 4.00pm today, this gives them fourteen minutes.

I would assume they've already found drivers. They prime the pump before launch, so they can have plenty of capacity.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I would assume they've already found drivers. They prime the pump before launch, so they can have plenty of capacity.

... even though they were telling the local press, only three days ago, that "Currently, we do not have a timescale for our Brighton operations" ?

 

[Gwylan]

So, the 4.00 launch didn't happen then.

"Brighton
Uber is currently not available in this location BACK TO RESULTS"

Did the tribunal decision delay it?

 

[Chicken Run]

I can confirm there is now a car on the map

 

[nickbrighton]

just trying to sign up, however you need a verification text from them,to activate your account. I have now requested 3 times to "resend" text but nothing yet.

 

[Wellesley]

Uber's licence to operate in Brighton expires next Friday. They say that they have applied to the Council to renew it, but a date to deal with the application has not yet been set.

Their intention when first granted the licence a year ago was to operate in compliance with the Council's private hire vehicle regulations. These require vehicles to meet certain standards and drivers to be registered with the Council and be DBS / CRB checked.

Is that definite? I thought they had until next Friday to trigger their one year licence, which they are doing today. That is what my cab driver told me this morning.

 

[Gwylan]

The website still telling me that Uber is not available in Brighton

That 'launch' went well then

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Is that definite? I thought they had until next Friday to trigger their one year licence, which they are doing today. That is what my cab driver told me this morning.

I'm relying for my information on a story in the Brighton and Hove News. But you may be possibly be right. In 2015, the Council certainly awarded Uber a licence for one year. The start date isn't confirmed in the minutes of the Licensing Committee panel.

 

[halbpro]

... even though they were telling the local press, only three days ago, that "Currently, we do not have a timescale for our Brighton operations" ?

This all seems a bit moot given they've not actually launched at 4pm by the look of it. But I can certainly imagine they'd talked to registered drivers to find interested parties, even if they didn't have a concrete timetable.

 

[soistes]

I wonder how today's Employment Tribunal ruling will change things for Uber (not to mention for all the other companies like Deliveroo and delivery firms using the 'self-employment' scam to avoid their tax and employment responsibilities)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37802386

 

[Bozza]

One car showing up intermittently.

 

[Wrong-Direction]

One car showing up intermittently.

He'll be busy tomorrow night![emoji316]

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

 

[halbpro]

I'm relying for my information on a story in the Brighton and Hove News. But you may be possibly be right. In 2015, the Council certainly awarded Uber a licence for one year. The start date isn't confirmed in the minutes of the Licensing Committee panel.

I was going to say that renewing implies the clock is ticking (and has nearly run out), but I suppose it'd make sense to get ahead of the game in terms of renewals if the 1 year only starts from start of operations.