ROUND THE COUNCILS
AMBER VALLEY: LICENCES GRANTED DESPITE NO CHECKS
Dear PHTM, we are writing on behalf of a group of 12 licensed hackney carriage and private hire operators and drivers based in the Amber Valley licensing area of Derbyshire, to raise an issue we believe may be of interest to operators and drivers in similar situations across the country. Amber Valley BC has recently relocated its hackney carriage and PHV testing centre to a garage in Sheffield, around 25 miles outside the licensing area. This followed the previous contracted garage, MAN Truck, being unable to continue providing the service due to the unavailability of a qualified tester. The council’s own published contracts register shows this previous contract ran from September 2022 with a one-year extension option attached. Documentation published on the council’s website confirms that extension was exercised, meaning the contract was due to run through to 30th June 2026, not 2025 as the base contract term suggested. Despite this, testing was moved to the Sheffield garage before that confirmed end date, raising the question of whether the contract with MAN Truck was formally terminated early, and if so, on what grounds. Rather than this being planned for through a proper re-tender process, the move has reportedly been handled as an emergency direct award. The practical impact on drivers has been significant. A round trip of around 50 miles for a routine annual test represents a direct cost in time and fuel for self- employed drivers, and creates real difficulty for those with school transport contracts or other time-sensitive bookings. There is also a genuine legal concern: under MOT rules, a vehicle that fails its test for a major defect can normally only be driven away if the test took place at the garage where the vehicle is kept, or if a repair has been pre-arranged. A failure in Sheffield leaves a driver with a vehicle that cannot lawfully be driven the 25 miles back to the licensing area without that arrangement in place, and a dangerous fault would require recovery
from
Sheffield entirely. Separately, the council has now introduced a new requirement for taximeter calibration and certification, with the only approved garage for this located in Nottingham, adding a further journey and cost on top of the testing issue.
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As a group, we have submitted a formal letter to Amber Valley BC setting out these concerns, including direct questions about the overlap between the confirmed extended contract end date and the date the Sheffield garage’s testing arrangement began, and a Freedom of Information request has been submitted asking the council to clarify the circumstances behind the decision, including the handling of the contract’s expiry and the process used to appoint the Sheffield garage. We have also raised the matter with our local Members of Parliament. We believe this is a situation that may resonate with operators in other licensing areas who have experienced or could face similar changes to testing arrangements, and we would welcome the opportunity to share further detail or documentation if needed. Yours faithfully Drivers of Amber Valley
DONCASTER: ALL WRITTEN-OFF CARS BANNED
Taxis and private hire vehicles that have ever been written off will soon be completely banned from Doncaster’s roads under a strict new licensing policy. Members of the City of Doncaster Council’s licensing committee voted to outlaw both Category S (structural) and Category N (non-structural) write-offs from operating in the city. Previously, only the most severely damaged Category A (scrap) and B (break) write-off vehicles were barred from receiving licences. The new rules will apply retrospectively, forcing current drivers of written-off vehicles to find replacements. While council officers initially proposed a three-year grace period to help drivers transition, committee members voted to slash that window to just 18 months. Pushing for the faster timeline, Councillor Isaiah-John Reasbeck said: “Three years seems like a long time to get an unsafe car off the road.” Alongside the vehicle ban, the committee approved several other changes to the taxi licensing policy, including a new requirement for all taxis to be fitted with hearing loops to improve passenger accessibility. Other debated changes, including whether to make CCTV mandatory inside all taxis and private hire vehicles, have been deferred to a future meeting.
AUGUST 2026 PHTM
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