Black Cab 'Lottery'

Dear Manchester City Council,

I am seeking to determine through the rights given to the public
within the FOIA, why Manchester City Council chose to implement a
Black Cab 'Lottery' system.

- How was the consultation carried out?
- What report or reports was the decision based on?
- Did Manchester City Council carry out an Impact Assessment?
- How has Manchester City Council monitored the situation since the
scheme was brought in?

Yours faithfully,

Z. Hussain

Dear Ms. Jenette Hicks,

Thank you for the information you have provided thus far.

Could you let me know where I can obtain the relative Equality
Impact Assessment please?

In Item 6.0 of the 15/Feb/2010 meeting it states:
"In relation to the recommendations of the sub committee these are
currently undergoing an equality impact assessment."

This should have taken place.

If it has not taken place, could you indicate when I can see it?

Also, were Members aware that for those of the Muslim faith the
idea of a system based on a 'lottery' is generally considered
offensive? If the Council did consult with the Muslim faith
community, which representative organisation did they reference?

Yours faithfully,

Z. Hussain

Dear Ms. Jenette Hicks,

This is a gentle reminder that today is the final day allowed for
you to make a response.

Yours Sincerely,

Z. Hussain

Dear Ms. Christie,

Thank you for your detailed response thus far.

6.3

In 6.3 of the 5th July 2010 Report to the Licensing & Appeals
Committee it states:

"6.3 Equality monitoring is not currently undertaken in relation to
the taxi licensing service. It is therefore proposed that equality
monitoring for all equality groups is introduced via the licence
application and licence renewal process."

- If Equality Monitoring was not taking place at the time of the
report how was it possible to determine what impact the 'random
selection' policy would have without any historic baseline to work
from?
- How are yow monitoring Equality today? For instance, do you have
a breakdown in terms of ethnicity of the current licence holders?

====
6.9

In 6.9 of the same report it states:

"6.9 It has been raised by some members of the Hackney carriage
trade that allocating HCPL by way of a “lottery” would be against
the religious beliefs of some religions including Islam. The term
lottery has been used as a shorthand reference to entry into a pool
from which people would be randomly selected to be allocated a
HCPL. The term lottery unfortunately has gambling connotations and
as such is inappropriate. This terminology will not be used in any
of the policy documents. The Head Imam at the Manchester Central
Mosque has confirmed that the proposed methodology for allocating
HCPL does not go against religious teachings in Islam. In addition
consultation has also been undertaken with the Faith Network 4
Manchester who have not raised any concerns regarding the
proposals."

It is intriguing that this issue was raised by cab drivers
themselves and not something originally flagged by MCC. This
highlights a weakness in the mechanism to hear what ordinary local
people think and feel about policies implemented in their name.

Manchester has something like 50 mosques which are themselves made
up of a very wide range in terms of ethnicity, theology and
culture. How is it possible for one mosque to represent the whole
Muslim community? That’s like going to a local church and asking it
provide an opinion on behalf of all the Christians in the city or
going to a single synagogue and expecting it to give both
“Orthodox” and “Reformed” theological opinions.

Why did the council not approach its own elected Muslim Councillors
for advice on this issue? Manchester City Council has several
elected Muslim Councillors and it seems strange that at no point in
the documentation do you mention that the Council drew on this
expertise. Or did the Council do so? Could you prove that you did
seek such advice? Did you approach the Lead Member on Equalities?
Did you approach the Lead Member on Race?

Also, at the time this report was published, MCOM (Manchester
Council of Mosques) was in formation and the Council was quite
aware of this. At no point did you approach the Manchester Council
of Mosques which would have provided you with a representative
response that would have looked not only at the use of the term
"lottery", but also at the potential impact a new policy would have
on current and future cab drivers as many originate from a Muslim
faith background.
This again shows a failure in the way MCC consults with
communities.

====
8.1

In 8.1 of the same report it states:

"8.1 Following a successful challenge to the method of allocation
of HCPL in the Employment Tribunal, the City Council sought legal
advice on that allocation system. The legal advice confirmed that
the system was discriminatory, in that the length of service
criterion could be found to be discriminatory on the grounds of
sex, age and possibly disability."

- Could you clarify if the City Council essentially changed its
policy with regards to the allocation of black cab licence, because
of this single instance of someone taking Manchester City Council
to court?
- Or was the change in the system a natural progression?
Could you provide evidence to prove this?
- Where was the 'legal advice' sought from? Were the changes
brought in a response to this legal advice or did the change come
in based on consultation?

- If another individual were to take the Council to court and win,
proving that a random selection system was discriminatory against
those who have been waiting for many years would that prompt the
City Council to change this policy again?

EXISTING LICENCES

Is the Manchester City Council aware of:
- How many licences are sold on per year and at what rate?
- How many hackney cabs are rented out?
- How many people are in the waiting list?
- Are checks in place to determine if a driver is able to
circumvent the system?

TRAINING OF OFFICERS

- How was it determined that officers had the requisite
competency/skills to carry out out an EIA?

REVENUE FROM HACKNEY CAB LICENSING

- How much revenue does Manchester City Council accrue each year
from Hackney Cab licences? Please provide figures for the last 3
fiscal years.

TRAINING OF OFFICERS

- How was it determined that officers had the requisite
competency/skills to carry out an EIA?

Yours Sincerely,

Z. Hussain

Dear Manchester City Council,

Still awaiting your reply.

Yours faithfully,

Z. Hussain

Dear Manchester City Council,

Still awaiting you response. It is long overdue.

Yours faithfully,

Z. Hussain

Dear Manchester City Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Manchester City
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Black Cab 'Lottery''.

I do not think that my questions and subsequent questions (that
arise of the responses provided) are being replied to.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/bl...

Yours faithfully,

Z. Hussain

Dear Manchester City Council,

I have been awaiting the outcome of the internal review since June
of this year. I believe you are in violation of the FOI by not
responding within the time frame stipulated by the FOIA.

Yours faithfully,

Z. Hussain