Taxi drivers say they could be forced out of business as North Northamptonshire Council gives green light to new licensing laws

The controversial changes to the existing rules for the taxi rules have been looming over the trade since North Northants Council (NNC) started pursuing the aim of bringing the previous zones across the region into one harmonised system.

The former Conservative administration signed off the single-zone plans last year, with the intention for it to take effect from April 2025, however the full policy was not approved in time and the start date was delayed.

The new rules, which must go to full council after the new Reform executive panel’s approval, are set to take effect from September.

Speaking in opposition to NNC’s licensing policy at the meeting, Wellingborough taxi driver Henry Liffen said he would be forced to leave the trade he had been part of for the past 37 years. He also asked members for a ‘proper consultation’ where the trade was listened to.

According to NNC, their survey on the proposals to remove the four separate taxi zones in late 2023 indicated 65 per cent of respondents either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the plans.

Mr Liffen added: “It seemed that the remit of the previous licensing committee was to get harmonisation through whatever the consequences were.

"If this new rule is passed then with a heavy heart and sadness, I would hand my taxi licence back to North Northamptonshire Council and thank them for taking my business away from me.”

Fellow Wellingborough driver Ricky Dunkley, who said he had been in the trade for 20 years, took issue with the policy requiring all drivers to transfer to wheelchair cars by 2028, stating that there was not even any increased demand for the vehicles in the area.

Mr Dunkley explained: “My current taxi at the time I bought it cost me £8,000. I would like to typically spend a similar amount on my next upgrade.

“Under these current policies that are coming in I would be expected to spend at least £65,000 for a low basic car.

"If this goes through, I will have no other choice but either to close my business or to move it to another council and work off cross-border laws.

“I plead that you revert these policies back to the 2023 policies and run fresh consultation with the trade and listen to us.”

Cab driver Neil Reilly questioned if the late addition of a Euro 6 requirement for new licensed vehicles, which dictates standards to reduce harmful emissions, was done to ‘deliberately mislead the trade or to try and pull the wool over the eyes’ of the executive committee.

He said: “There’s a massive shortage of available vehicles and you’re making it smaller by introducing restrictive regulations. Before the intervention of this authority, the system worked perfectly.”

Taking aim at the new Reform UK head table, he referenced their election commitments to scrap net zero and said that if they didn’t drop the Euro 6 requirements they would be ‘nothing more than charlatans’.

Other major objections to the de-zoning policies relate to a new knowledge test covering 382 square miles of North Northants that cabbies would be required to sit. This has not been finalised yet and will come forward as a separate paper.

Cllr David Brackenbury, the former Conservative member who oversaw the process whilst in administration, addressed the committee: “We’ve had to balance so many different interests both in terms of taxi trade itself and good regulation and governance and the public.

"The trade have come in and contributed as much as they can and the council has taken in as many of the representations and many of the comments into account.

“It is a complicated and challenging review. Nothing as complex as this is going to please everybody at the same time, but the paper seeks to provide the best taxi service across North Northamptonshire.”

Responding to the plethora of concerns, NNC executive director of place and economy George Candler said he recognised the cost of wheelchair accessible vehicles to the trade and added that there would be further review undertaken on that specific area.

He said: “The consultation has been undertaken direct with the trade and more widely with the public. It has had fairly significant scrutiny as well as engagement.

“The overriding objective for this policy is protecting the public.”

Cllr Kirk Harrison, executive member for Regulatory Services, said it was important to note that it is a ‘transitional policy, it’s not the final word’.

He added: “We need a harmonised approach, currently decisions are made on a case by case basis and that presents a significant risk to the council. But what we’ve secured is a full review by the end of 2025.

“It’s really important to stress that we are listening. It’s a balancing act - for every change we make in a policy there’s a consequence. We just want to make sure we avoid any unintended consequences moving forward.”

Cllr Harrison added that grandfather rights of existing vehicles would be protected under the new policy, stating that ‘nobody has to change their vehicle today, or in September, or at any time at least up until 2028’.

The policy was unanimously approved by the executive members. A further report will be presented to full council at the end of this month for full policy and byelaws approval.

If there are further delays to the updated Byelaws NNC has warned that the proposed September implementation date for the single zone and Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy will also need to be pushed back again.

NNC has said the policy will be subject to a further review around the need for 100 per cent wheelchair accessible vehicles, the exceptional age policy, grandfather rights and transitional arrangements before the end of 2025.