§ 20. Mr. Dykesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the proposed increase in London Metropolitan taxicab fares.
§ Dr. SummerskillWe hope very soon to complete our consideration of this claim.
§ Mr. DykesAs the Home Department persists in its peculiar and anomalous control over these matters, does the Minister agree that an increase in fares is long overdue and is an inevitable consequence of inflation, however unwelcome it may be to the travelling public? Would not the occasion of such an increase be an opportunity to consolidate all the supplementary charges made by London taxicabs into one basic fare meter operation, and to remove that maddening wall chart which survives from the old fare basis? Will the Minister confirm that the operation of taxicabs to and from Heathrow is now much more satisfactory?
§ Dr. SummerskillAll these matters are being very carefully considered. We hope to make an announcement next week.