Please read this and act on it by contacting the councillors on the committee and, if you are in a radio company, the representative who attends HCLCG meetings.

Edinburgh City Private Hire (ECPH) are now trying to get the council to allow added signage on their vehicles. They are, somewhat cynically, using improving women's safety as the platform for this campaign.

In support of their submissions they have letters from Women's Groups pointing out supposed safety benefits of this further signage; unfortunately they omit the most important factor concerning the issue of women's safety - the illegal plying for hire and touting of the private hire industry.

The companies themselves cannot be seen to condone these illegal pick-ups, yet have they ,or the authorities done anything to stop them?

Perhaps, if councillors were made aware of the reality that it is private hire cars sitting touting for business outside pubs and clubs, which misleads the public into thinking that saloon cars are available as "taxis," they may look at this phc advertising campaign differently.

Clearly, the issue of women's safety is being used by the PH trade purely to further their own business interests.

Please contact the councillors concerned so that this can be stopped.

ECPH documents here

Email addresses of the committee are:

louise.lang@edinburgh.gov.uk    joanna.mowat@edinburgh.gov.uk

tim.mckay@edinburgh.gov.uk   conor.snowden@edinburgh.gov.uk

colin.keir@edinburgh.gov.uk    ronald.cairns@edinburgh.gov.uk

ricky.henderson@edinburgh.gov.uk    ian.perry@edinburgh.gov.uk

kate.mackenzie@edinburgh.gov.uk