CROSS-BORDER CONCERNS
GTR MANCHESTER MAYOR CALLS FOR DEVOLVED POWERS TO FIX BROKEN TAXI LICENSING SYSTEM
Mayor of Greater Manchester (GM) Andy Burnham says England’s ‘broken taxi system’ must be fixed to make his city- region’s fleet amongst the safest and most trusted in the country. Figures show one local authority dominates taxi licensing across England, with nearly half of PHVs working in GM now licensed ‘out of area’. The city-region’s out of area figure of more than 12,000 has risen sharply from just under 7,000 in 2023. and Mayor Burnham has now called for radical change to give England’s mayors and city- regions more control of PHVs. Launching a new campaign ‘Backing our taxis: Local. Licensed. Trusted.’ in Manchester city centre, he outlined the call for the government’s English Devolution Bill to both devolve power on taxis to Mayoral Combined Authorities and put a stop to ‘out of area’ licensing. Such a legal change would tackle a problem affecting many regions. Flexibility in licensing laws means vehicle owners are not required to obtain a licence from the local authority where they operate - severing the link between taxi drivers and local communities, through accountability to councils. Mayor Burnham says
local
accountability is critical to ensure public safety and trust in taxis. He says the move would not only help drive up standards, but also better support the livelihoods of GM’s taxi drivers through control of numbers and better incentivisation. Mr Burnham, said: “We want our taxi fleet to be amongst the safest
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and most trusted in the country. But we can’t do this with the current broken licensing system. Local leaders have zero oversight over nearly half the PHVs on our streets, with no relationship with the drivers, no levers to enforce the standards we want and no control over the numbers of taxis serving our communities. “We want to guarantee our residents that if they’re getting in a GM taxi – no matter how they book it – it’s one that meets high standards we expect across all public transport. To do that, we need national change in the English Devolution Bill to both devolve taxi powers to city-regions and stop the ability for vehicles and drivers licensed in non-GM authorities to operate here. Such a change will give political leaders more control over measures that impact public safety, vehicle standards, emissions and accessibility.
“But this is as much about safeguarding the livelihoods of our cab drivers – as it is about passengers. They’ve been under immense pressure over the last few years, and we want to get behind them. “We’re today kickstarting in-
depth discussions with the trade. We want to get under the bonnet of the issues that affect them, review how we can improve our own licensing and incentivise them to register here without dropping standards. We’re com- mitted to doing what we can under the current system, but it will only be effective if it’s done in lockstep with change on out of area licensing at a national level.” As well as greater devolution on the issue, the ‘Backing our taxis’ campaign also calls on the government to support drivers to make the switch to greener, more accessible vehicles easier, with recommendations to extend the VAT exemption to new WAV taxis; extend the national Plug-In Taxi Grant for EVs; and reduce the rate of VAT on public EV charging. Mayor Burnham has also announced a review of GM’s current approach to licensing, supported by a 12-week period of engagement with the taxi trade. It was kick-started on 16 April with a roundtable with key trade representatives. The period will involve online questionnaires, in- person surveys with drivers and in-depth interviews with both trade representatives and those involved in local licensing. It will also explore how best to allocate an £8m fund for hackney drivers which formed part of the Clean Air Plan deal. GM will also explore how PHVs can be supported to make the switch to modern vehicles, potentially through subsidised, low interest loans.
MAY 2025 PHTM
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