Changes to taxi licensing policy
A HOST of changes will be made to the council’s hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy after a consultation with the trade.
However, a decision over whether to require mandatory CCTV in vehicles has been delayed for further ‘legal issues’ to be considered.
Policy changes agreed at a recent cabinet meeting include: removing the requirement for licensed vehicles to meet the Euro 5 emission standard by September 2017; lifting the ban on LPG vehicles; revising livery and signage conditions; and requiring the council to update their convictions policy.
Coun Gareth Molineux, cabinet member for resources, told the meeting: “We have listened very carefully to the concerns raised by the trade and balanced this against our obligation to ensure the safety of the travelling public.
“We have compromised where we can to try and limit the impact on the trade. Overall this is the best policy that we could bring at this time. We are still considering where to require CCTV in our taxis and I hope to bring a further report to cabinet by Christmas. There are a couple of legal issues we need to get right.”