ROUND THE COUNCILS WEALDEN:
MORE LENIENT LICENSING RULES CALLS
Wealden taxi drivers are calling for more lenient licensing rules in the face of ‘cost of living’ pressures. In a report discussed on Friday 22 September, Wealden District Council’s licensing committee has been asked to review rules on what vehicles can be used as hackney carriages and PHVs.
The report, from the Wealden Drivers Association, asks the council to consider both extending the age limit on what vehicles can be used as taxis and removing a condition on the tinting of windows. The drivers association says both conditions are becoming impractical and too expensive to maintain in their current form, particularly given current economic pressures. Under the council’s current rules, vehicles must be less than nine-years-old to secure a licence for use as a HC or PHV. The association says the council should consider extending this restriction as neighbouring councils have more generous age limits. The other disputed condition currently requires the tint of a vehicle’s rear windows to be “no darker than the front tinted side windows”. This requires drivers to fit lighter windows after purchase, a measure the association says can prove costly as untinted windows for modern vehicles can be difficult to find. Wealden council officers are recommending changes go out to public consultation. Their recommendations do not line up with the drivers association, however. Officers suggest the council should consult on allowing a vehicle licensed for the first time from April 1 2024 to be used until it is ten years old, as long as it meets fuel emissions standards. Electric, hybrid-electric and WAVs would be given a 15-year lifespan. Their advice on window tinting is less flexible, however. Officers suggest the council keep the condition, but consult on introducing an exemption for vehicles which have a CCTV system installed. Officers suggest this exemption be limited, however, with drivers not being allowed to use films to darken windows, even if they do have CCTV systems installed. Council officers are recommending a further condition should also be considered if the requested changes are put out to public consultation. of a new requirement for all HCs to be painted white. Officers say this new livery would make it easier for passengers to identify licensed taxis.
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CAMBRIDGE: HACKNEY AGE LIMIT INCREASE
The number of years HCs are allowed to be on the road in Cambridge has been increased’. Cambridge City Council agreed to change its policy to increase the age limit from nine years to 11 years old. The council also agreed to change its policy for new taxi drivers who were required to have a car under four years old; this age limit has been removed and a new HC must now meet a Euro 5 standard or higher. The change is to give drivers more choice of cheaper vehicles and increase the number WAVs in the city. A petition calling for the policy changes was signed by 159 taxi drivers licensed with the city council. At a meeting of the city council’s licensing committee on September 11, Ahmed Karaahmed, chairman of Cambridge City Licensed Taxis, told councillors the new policy would be a “lifeline” to “struggling drivers” who were “grappling” with the cost of living crisis. He added: “Just to be clear we did not ask for this only for the benefit of taxi drivers, the public will have a huge benefit too, especially wheelchair users. “We have seen many proprietors handing back wheelchair taxi plates rather than replacing their vehicles as it is not economically viable with all the current requirements of age, emissions and livery. “Options such as working for private hire companies with vehicles licensed with other authorities makes more economic sense to drivers. “As a result we have seen a drop in WAVs, especially the multi-seater models. This has also meant less access to taxis for wheelchair users as well as a reduction in revenue for the city council.” Mr Karaahmed said the policy change would have an “immediate positive effect” by giving drivers access to a broader range of vehicles at a “more financially manageable cost”. Officers confirmed that the policy change will mostly impact wheelchair-accessible taxis, due to most of the saloon-style taxis already having been switched over to ultra-low and zero-emission vehicles. Councillor Naomi Bennett said: “I am quite a regular taxi user and quite often I have to go to things without my wheelchair if I have to use a taxi because I cannot get a wheelchair taxi. Sometimes that is not a problem because I have other mobility aids, but sometimes it really is.” The committee unanimously voted to approve the policy change.
OCTOBER 2023 PHTM
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