Regulation Round-up: The Taxi Centre March Monthly Update
The Taxi Centre monthly round-up keeps you updated with the latest council regulations and updates that you need to know about in your area.
Cambridge – Rising fees causing struggles for cabbies
Cambridge City Council will be rising licensing fees in the city, despite drivers’ protests. The change will see costs rise from £250 to £270, with an increase on the one-year renewal from £84 to £100.
Changes will also be made to vehicle livery rules, requiring hackney carriages to be silver with a green stripe.
This comes after a report on 30th January stated that the committee would “seek to recover” the administration costs from licensing.
Yvonne O’Donnell, Environmental Health Manager, said the new proposals aimed to “support” the trade without causing a strain on council finances, after a deficit of £100,000 was revealed from fees not being raised.
One driver said, “We have to buy EVs which must be silver. Now we have to get CCTV with no funding for it. I request you freeze the prices. You say you’re on our side, but here again is another rise.”
The increase comes into effect on 1st April, though a petition signed by 101 hackney drivers is calling for the livery changes to be scrapped due to the difficulties this would cause.
Ahmed Karaahmed, chairman of Cambridge City Licensed Taxis warned the council of drivers “giving up the trade” due to the financial constraints and becoming private hire drivers or getting a license from South Cambridgeshire DC instead.
Meanwhile, the council intends to retain the livery policy.
North Yorkshire – Council’s ‘single taxi’ zone postponed
A proposal to merge seven North Yorkshire taxi zones into one has been postponed after drivers and disabled people appealed against it. They argued it would lead to taxis clogging up areas in the town, and a lack of access to taxis in rural areas, especially for wheelchair users.
A meeting was held on 7th February where members recommended the council reconsider the change and come up with alternative proposals.
Most people disagreed with the proposal in the consultation held. Nick Moxon, chairman of North Yorkshire Disability Forum said: “The suggestion that one zone rather than seven will enable wheelchair users to find taxis on ranks in future lacks any credible evidence.”
Key concerns included wheelchair users' access to transportation. If taxi drivers were allowed to wait at ranks miles away, the wheelchair users who are not close by would have no means of transport.
There is also a lack of wheelchair-accessible taxi services at nearby stations. Also, wheelchair users are not able to travel by bus as they cannot access many rural bus stops safely.
One Harrogate-based taxi driver reflected his concerns, saying:
“The vast majority, if not all, of the hackney carriage trade is totally against the proposals to create a one-zone authority for the purpose of taxi trading as this will lead to certain livelier areas becoming swamped at peak times, leaving quieter rural areas with no supply at all, leaving residents in those areas vulnerable to getting home safely.”
Portsmouth – Vehicle age rules updated
Portsmouth Council is considering plans to extend the vehicle age rule from eight years to 12, amid the rising cost of new cars.
The policy aims to reduce the number of heavily polluting vehicles in the industry and ensure a safer fleet. Members of the industry called for an extension for Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAVs) considering the higher costs associated.
Most people supported the proposal, though some called for the extension to be a blanket policy for all vehicles considering financial industry constraints.
The council supported this position, publishing a report ahead of the licensing committee’s meeting recommending the extension. The report said:
“The question which elicited most responses related to the proposed recommendation to extend the upper age limit for WAVs.”
“Whilst the overall view was supportive of the proposal, many responses were received, presumably from licensed drivers and hackney vehicle proprietors, that the amendment to the policy should apply to all licensed vehicles.”
“Having due regard to the views expressed, the recommendation in relation to the upper age limit for licensed vehicles has now been amended to reflect an increase for all licensed vehicles.”
Plymouth – New policy causing driver shortages
Drivers in Plymouth have warned the council that driver shortages are worsening, having a negative impact on both the hospitality industry and women’s safety.
In a letter to the council, the Plymouth Licensed Taxi Association (PLTA) said drivers are being forced into retirement, and new policies are causing increasing pressures for those who remain.
Martin Leaves, PLTA secretary, requested a meeting with councillors from all parties but was greeted with no response.
In 2022, the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy was enacted, removing the limit on hackney cab numbers and proposing that black cabs be made green and white by 2027.
Mr Leaves wrote: “Here we are in a cost of living crisis, taxi drivers are being pushed into retirement due to the taxi policy, forcing taxi drivers out of pocket.
The recent taxi policy which got implemented last May, has seen no new taxis brought into service, drivers are still walking away with no new blood coming into the trade.
Over Christmas, I lost count of how many people said they won’t go out as much as it’s too much hassle getting home, due to lack of taxis, which is all caused by the city council’s taxi policy.
“We have vulnerable women struggling to get home safely and all this council seems to care about is having a taxi livery that’s not easy to get, nor is it cheap to do. But, really, is it more important to have green and white taxis than to have no taxis at all?”
Peterborough – Age limits for vehicles changed
Peterborough City Council (PCC) has voted to allow vehicles with tail lifts to be used as taxis or PHVs. They also wish to increase the age limit for vehicles from 10 to 12 years.
The new policy will affect only a small number of vehicles, amounting to around three percent of all licensed taxis.
Vehicles with a platform at the back for lifting people or cargo from the ground up, such as minivans made for passengers in wheelchairs, will be used as private hire vehicles (PHVs).
The new changes came into effect on 10th February. This includes increase on the upper age limit for PHVs from four to eight years when licensed for the first time.
According to the PPC licensing manager, Gareth Brighton, the changes are the result of a measure to protect businesses from having to replace older cars amid other financial pressures.
This includes companies contracted by the council to take children with learning disabilities to and from school, among others.
Walsall – Council rejects six-month DVLA checks proposal
Drivers in Walsall will not be subjected to six-monthly DVLA checks, after the proposal was rejected.
A report shared on February 22nd revealed that a ‘handful’ of the 1,368 licensed drivers had not informed the licensing authority of points on their licenses.
This led to a proposed change to the current policy, which requires DVLA checks every three years, to require checks more regularly, every six months.
Councillors said the policy change would be more of a burden to drivers while placing more of a strain on officers who already have a busy workload.
Cllr Aftab Nawaz said: “I’m totally against this. I don’t understand why if we found one or two cases where individuals have done something wrong, the whole trade has to suffer doing six-monthly checks.
They don’t do it in any other part of the country. I don’t understand why Walsall has to be an outlier and put more costs on our struggling drivers.
If officers said the three-yearly checks are not working and we’ve got a huge problem, that may be a time to consider such things. But that’s not happened.
We have to be careful we don’t keep on imposing restrictions on the trade that it becomes so lumbered by the cost of being a taxi driver in Walsall that they then go off and be a driver in Wolverhampton.”
That’s all for this month. Stay tuned to our Newsroom for your next regulation round-up.