Councillors Hear Taxi-Industry Concerns Over Licencing.

[Hereford Voice]

Herefordshire’s Coalition administration say they will continue to listen to county taxi drivers over licensing policy, following 24 months of extensive consultation, after councillors on Friday deferred a decision at a Full Council meeting on adopting a new taxi policy when members responded to concerns from the trade around the need for further clarification around policy conditions.

Councillor Ange Tyler said: ‘The policy was recommended for approval by officers after a long consultation process but I am happy to accept the majority decision of my fellow councillors, that is proper local democracy in action, and we will work with members of the trade and their representatives to address the concerns that remain.’

‘Since government changed taxi licensing regulations in 2020 we have worked with the industry to develop a policy that keeps passengers safe, whilst supporting the industry, which has struggled through the impact of Covid. It was our belief that the policy was ready for agreement subject to some minor details around penalty points and movable seats, which could be dealt with by council officials. The last consultation received only two responses, however, it is obvious that not all issues have been fully resolved. We hear that and commit ourselves to working to resolve those.’

Councillor Tyler added: ‘We must ensure that the policy is fit and proper providing a robust licensing regime for the hackney carriage and private hire trades with the overriding aim of maintaining and improving public safety while mindful of protecting the public and the provision of service to the public.’

‘We know that the industry nationally has lost around 160,000 drivers and that conditions for taxi drivers are very challenging.

We need to balance that with meeting government regulations and safety for passengers. Taxi licensing policy is always a live document as regulations change and we hoped today to have a framework in place to work around, however we hear the concerns of the industry and will continue our lengthy debate with taxi drivers on this document.’