ROUND THE COUNCILS BOLTON:
MLS TAXI SCHEME SCRUTINISED
Highly controversial changes to the taxi trade were debated again at Bolton town hall last month. The Minimum Standards Licensing scheme is set to come into effect across all of Greater Manchester by the end of the decade. But in Bolton the proposal has been called in for further scrutiny after some of the borough’s drivers raised fears that their livelihoods could be impacted. Cllr Paul Heslop, of One Kearsley, said: “This is a classic case, as with the Clean Air Zone, of not listening to the people and to the people it is going to affect. And when the people sometimes give politicians a bloody nose its welcome because we need to listen to them.” He added: “It is a mess in Greater Manchester, and we will be sending a very clear message that we don’t want anything to do with it.” The MLS scheme was agreed collectively by the city region’s ten councils in 2018 and was designed to bring in a set of common standards for the 11,500 PHVs across Greater Manchester. Taxis will also be required to comply with European standards when first licensed, aiming for a zero-carbon emission fleet while they will also be marked with a common livery. One of the most contentious aspects of this has been requirements that vehicles would have to be less than five years old on first registration and have been on the road for less than ten years to avoid a charge. Bolton Council has since won concessions, including that there be no maximum age for vehicles already “on to fleet” and that common liveries will not need to include Greater Manchester logo stickers. But continuing objections over vehicle age standards in particular led opposition councillors to call the decision in for further scrutiny at a Bolton Council cabinet meeting at the end of April. This has now been discussed further at the authority’s place scrutiny committee. Labour’s Cllr Mohammed Ayub said: “This is a matter of the livelihood of drivers and the safety of the public, so this needs to be sorted.” But the council’s leadership has long made the point that they have already won concessions from Greater Manchester and have warned that not signing up to the scheme could entail a loss of funding. Speaking at the place scrutiny committee meeting, Conservative deputy leader Cllr Hilary Fairclough pointed out that the policy had originally been a
PHTM JUNE 2023
Labour policy. She said that since the Conservative Party came to office in Bolton, her party had tried to work with the opposition and with the taxi trade to try and agree on the best way forward. She said: “It originally started in 2018 when a Labour Mayor wanted to have minimum standards and the ten then Labour authorities.” She added: “We went out and we got what we believed was the best deal for Bolton, no one else got the same.”
The decision will now be referred back to Bolton Council’s cabinet.
SOUTH AYRSHIRE: VEHICLE MAINTENANCE WORRIES
Taxi and private hire operators in South Ayrshire are being urged to remember their responsibilities when it comes to vehicle maintenance after concerns over a “worrying trend”. South Ayrshire Council’s Regulatory Panel issued the reminder amid concerns over the conditions of vehicles licensed by the authority. There are currently 99 taxi and 149 PHVs operating and they must undergo an annual inspection and an MoT. This test should take place every six months if the vehicle is over seven years old. Every vehicle should be safe and roadworthy in the interests of public safety, as well as in an acceptable and comfortable standard for passenger travel. At the latest meeting of the Regulatory Panel, councillors heard that of the 32 taxi vehicle tests that took place between January 1 – March 31, 2023, there were six fails (19 per cent) compared to just two fails (six per cent) during the same period last year. For private hire vehicles, of the 38 vehicles tested between January 1 – March 31, 2023 there were 11 fails (29 per cent) which is similar to this time last year. Councillor Kenny Bell, chair of South Ayrshire Council’s Regulatory Panel, said: “This is a worrying trend, and one we would like to address. We’re reminding operators that they have a responsibility to check their vehicles regularly and to ensure they have robust inspection and maintenance plans in place. “Passengers and other road users need to be confident that these vehicles are well maintained and roadworthy at all times. Where there is a pattern of failure for a particular vehicle, we do have the power to suspend a licence. This would always be a last resort, but safety must be our primary concern.”
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