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Consultation on changes to our Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy


We reviewed our Taxi Policy and wanted your views on the proposed changes.

What's the latest?

The new Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy 2023 to 2027 was agreed, subject to a few amendments, at our Full Council meeting on 20 September 2023. These were associated with:

  • The immediate revocation of taxi driver licences in cases of serious misconduct in the interests of public protection (decisions to be made by officers in conjunction with the Chair of Licensing where possible).
  • The decision by the Licensing Committee to remove the geographical/topographical testing requirement for hackney carriage driver applicants was changed by the County Council and will be kept as a requirement of the application process (but removed for private hire driver applicants).
  • A change to the wording of the policy around the use of information gained from a social media source that relates to a licence holder's suitability to hold a licence.
  • A further extension of the previously extended timescale for the phasing out of the very old, more polluting vehicles manufactured to Euro 4 standards from April 2024 to April 2025.

You can view the unamended policy on the County Council agenda and minutes 20 September 2023 page, Agenda Item 8, Appendix 3. Once the amendments have been made, the new policy will be published on our Hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy page.

Background

Following consultation on the review of the policy in 2020, our Licensing Committee accepted the proposed changes. Before it is adopted by us, we are seeking your views again on the draft policy. This further consultation is taking place to allow for further responses that may result from or reflect the effects of the Covid pandemic on the taxi trade and the travelling public.

The  Draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy 2021-2026 (June 2022) (PDF) [417KB] details our requirements and expectations for licensed drivers, vehicles, and operators. Most of the policy has not changed from the previous version, however some significant changes were proposed and are detailed below.

Proposed changes to the policy

We proposed the following changes to our policy:

Have your say

The deadline for comments was midnight on Sunday 17 July 2022.



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