IN THE
NEWS...IN THE NEWS.. HUGE SHAKE-UP TO MANCHESTER’S TAXIS
Taxis across Greater Manchester could be in line for a radical shake-up as the mayor looks tomake them safer, greener, more consistent - and
distinctively
Manc. According to the Manchester Evening News, a common liv- ery could be created and rolled out ac- ross
the conur-
bation, with bosses looking to New York’s yellowcabs for inspiration. They want taxis in every borough to be recognisable as from the region - and become part of Greater Manches- ter’s identity. Mayor Andy Burn- ham is preparing to
consultwith the pub- lic and the trade about bringing in a uniform ‘minimum standard’ for both hackney carriages and PHVs. It is understood that it would look at stan- dardised rules for drivers, as well as operators, vehicles and enforcement practices across each of the ten councils. That could include tougher thresholds around driver qualifi- cations and prior convictions, as well as on the age and emissions levels of individual cabs. Shared practice am- ong the ten council panels could also be introduced. The process is ex-
pected to be rolled out slowly over sev- eral years, due to the ongoing issue of drivers from other local
authorities
crossing the border and
undermining
standards. Town hall bosses have been discussing the plans in private for several months and are said to be broadly in agreement that a common approach should be considered. Senior figures at sev- eral town halls across Greater Manchester told the M.E.N. they were in favour of the move in principle. A “high level” paper on the issue was expected to go before the region’s
combined authority at the end of July, fol- lowed by discussions with the trade and a public consultation. One senior town hall figure said there was ‘an aspiration’ that at some point every borough in the region would oper- ate to standardised minimum rules, but added that could take five to ten years to roll out. “Drivers, vehicles, operators and licens- ing authorities would eventually have mini- mum standards,” they said of the plans. “But because primary legislation from parliament would also be need- ed to deal with the drivers coming in
from other areas, it’s a bit up in the air whether you could do it before that or not. “You could start it off, though, perhapswith the livery first.” It is understood Mr Burnham wants to step up lobbying of both Whitehall and the Local Govern- ment Association over the issue of de- regulation. In the past Ros- sendale, Sefton and Wolverhampton coun- cils have all been particularly
criti-
cised for having lax regimes that are then exported to other parts of the country. Rossendale has tight- ened its rules, but that is expected to
take a number of years to take effect as individual drivers’ licences come up for renewal. One
experienced
Manchester operator told the M.E.N. that a common standard across Greater Man- chester could be good news for firms - andmay in itself help stemthetideofdrivers fromother areas. Uber has absorbed so many of the city’s drivers that firms are increasingly having to go elsewhere in order to find new ones, he said. Often that means getting them from authorities that turn around
licensing
decisions in the space of days -
54
AUGUST 2018
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