Addressing the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel at a public meeting yesterday, Deputy Kevin Lewis said that attempting to regulate unlicensed lifts would be ‘like asking the finance industry to legalise bank robbers’.
The panel’s chairman, Constable Mike Jackson, asked if provisions could be made for services like ‘Jersey Lifts’ to operate within the law under ‘a management structure and with guidance’.
Jersey Lifts is a Facebook group where drivers offer to transport passengers in exchange for cash. The illegal service has caused unrest among the Jersey Taxi Drivers’ Association for several years and the police have issued warnings to those operating outside the law.
‘I find that very scary actually, chairman,’ said Deputy Lewis. ‘I can only regulate as minister what is legal; I cannot regulate what is illegal – that is a police matter. I find it very scary that people can set this up and give people lifts in exchange for money, which is illegal. If two friends want to give each other petrol money that’s one thing, but if someone’s running a business… we don’t know who these people are. They’ve not gone through DVS checks; they’re not insured as a taxi cab; they’ve not had background checks; they could be on drink; they could be on drugs; they could be a sexual offender – we just don’t know.
‘I certainly would not want any member of my family entering a vehicle belonging to one of these people. If, heaven forbid, there was a serious road traffic collision it would immediately invalidate the insurance if it came to light – which it would – that they were carrying for hire or reward. It just fills me with dread that these people are out there. Of course these people can do it cheaper because they don’t have to pay for insurance; they don’t pay tax
and they don’t have any background checks.’
Panel member Deputy Inna Gardiner asked if the minister would engage with Home Affairs Minister Len Norman to find a solution to incorporate ‘what the lifts, cabs, taxi industry is bringing to us’. Deputy Lewis replied: ‘I don’t know where I can go that I haven’t gone with this. The head of DVS has spoken to his counterparts and I’ve spoken to my counterparts – it’s a bit like asking the finance industry to legalise bank robbers.’
