§ 28. Commander MARSDENasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is now in a position to make any statement regarding the application made to him for an increase in taximeter-cab fares in London?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir John Gilmour)As I stated in my reply to 1804 the hon. Member for Lanark, North (Mr. Anstruther-Gray) on the 7th March last, I have met all the parties concerned in conference, and I have fully considered all the representations submitted to me and have made careful inquiries into the whole position. I have approached this problem from the point of view of the public interest, and as a result of my inquiries I have come to the conclusion that, in order to ensure that there shall be available to the public an adequate and efficient service of taxicabs, it is desirable that, while leaving the existing scale of fares undisturbed, there should be an additional hiring fee of 3d. for every hiring of a motor cab. The minimum fare for hiring a taxicab will thus be 9d. instead of 6d., and the fare for any journey, whatever its length, will be 3d. higher than at present. I have to-day made the necessary Order under the Metropolitan Public Carriage Act, 1869, but the additional hiring fee will not be payable until the 1st August.
§ Mr. MACQUISTENWill not the result be that the men who drive the taxicabs will get less in tips l When the fare was sixpence they usually received a Shilling, and now that the taximeter-cab owners are to receive ninepence, they will get only a threepenny tip.