CUMBERLAND:
ROUND THE COUNCILS KNOWSLEY:
PETITION TO SAVE TRADE DEBATED
Cumberland Council’s regulatory committee is set to consider a petition aimed at changing the council’s new taxi and private hire policy. The petition, titled “Save Cumberland’s taxi trade,” was submitted via
Change.org and, as of October 16, 2024, had gathered 1,449 signatures. However,
following verification, a report notes:
“Following verification in accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme, 430 signatures were confirmed as valid.” While this number was not sufficient for a debate by the full council, it does fall “within the remit of the regulatory committee,” which is scheduled to meet on Monday, November 17, 2025. The petition raises serious concerns about the proposed regulations, stating: “Some of these regulations would put many small companies out of business and Cumberland would lose more than 200 taxis, whilst there is already a severe shortage in the area.” It claims the council’s proposed limits on vehicle numbers are inadvertently discouraging the purchase of wheelchair accessible vehicles. “As it stands caps are in place to help us provide more vehicles for the disability community,” the petition argues, adding that the new rules make drivers “more inclined to buy a £20,000 normal taxi than a £60,000 wheelchair accessible vehicle which caused there to be fewer vehicles for the disability community.” The petitioners are calling for the council to listen to their concerns, asking: “Our main aim is that the council will listen to our concerns and support us when finally making the new taxi policies.” The committee had previously agreed on some less stringent policy aspects in January 2025, including “a much-reduced dress code regulations than those which were originally proposed” as well as a fixed penalty scheme for breaches of vehicle licence conditions such as failure to have a valid MOT test. Members also agreed that no more than 12 points must be accumulated for the length of the licence: three years for drivers and five years for operators. The current recommendation for the committee members is to note the petition and the verification outcome, consider the issues raised within the petition as part of their wider policy development work, and determine an appropriate response to the petition organiser in accordance with the council’s scheme for submission of petitions.
54 UNMET DEMAND SURVEY TO COME
Major changes to Knowsley Council’s taxi licensing policy could significantly reduce the number of hackney carriages on Merseyside roads, driven by proposals for stricter vehicle quality standards. During a Licensing Committee meeting on November 19, elected members were asked to authorise an "unmet demand survey," estimated to cost between £10,000 and £20,000, to determine if the current limit of 220 hackney carriages still meets the needs of Knowsley residents. The limit was previously reduced from 240 following a 2014 survey. The council report presented an alternative to numerical limits: a ‘quality of vehicle’ restriction. This would require all new hackney carriages to be “wheelchair accessible vehicles, of less than 3 years of age, with zero emissions.” The local authority, however, "acknowledged the significant risk in this strategy, which could lead to less carriages available on the roads." The council officer recommended that members “determine that the best way to serve the residents of Knowsley will be to continue to authorise a survey into the demand for the services of hackney carriages within the Knowsley area.” Furthermore, they recommended members “[I]n addition, to
consider the survey results and
recommendations at a future licencing committee once the survey is concluded and the results have been fed back to us.” The zero-emission requirement drew immediate concern from Cllr Brian Johns, who questioned the readiness of the borough's infrastructure. He stated: “To make that decision this evening would be inappropriate, in my
view,
because the
infrastructure to support EVs is nowhere near what it should be, and particularly if those vehicles are ranking up in specific parts of the borough.” He also noted the potential impact of cold weather, saying “electric vehicles are very fickle in their usage.” The local authority officer responded to
the
councillor's point, saying: “I do understand where you’re coming from with that regarding infrastructure challenges that may exist.” They stressed that commissioning the demand survey is necessary “to maintain our current position, and to evidence the validity of our current position, we need to commission the demand survey to move forwards.”
DECEMBER 2025 PHTM
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