Taxi Driver Online

Oh dear. I mean, even if scrapping a 15-year age rule is going to make a lot of difference, are the needs of one driver really worth dumping it for?

Suspect others in the trade are boiling about this. Assuming of course, removing a 15-year age rule is going to make a lot of difference in the first place. Which it probably won't, because it's hardly worth having a 15-year age rule anyway, in my opinion...

However, it's not set in stone. Yet.


West Suffolk Council set to scrap 15-year age limit on taxi and private hire vehicles

https://www.suffolknews.co.uk/bury-st-e ... h-9406883/

A council is set to scrap its 15-year age limit on taxi and private hire vehicles.

Following the first of West Suffolk Council’s driver and operator forums – as part of the authority’s efforts to increase engagement with the taxi trade – one driver asked the body to consider a change to the maximum age policy.

The policy was intended as a way to remove older, more high polluting vehicles from the roads to deliver a more environmentally friendly fleet.

The driver highlighted, since the policy adoption in 2022, the Department for Transport had issued guidance which said arbitrary age limits may be inappropriate, and emissions should be managed through vehicle testing.

Gerald Kelly, cabinet member for governance, regulatory and environment, wrote to drivers after the forum to say the council would not enforce the age limit while the amendment was considered. On Tuesday, he will ask the cabinet to agree the change.

Cllr Kelly said: “We want the taxi trade to thrive. We want people to feel and be safe, and to be confident both with the driver and the vehicle, and the taxi service as a profession.

“I’m delighted that one of our drivers asked for this change at our forum – it’s what it’s there for.

“In all of this, we want to have more of an open dialogue between the council and the trade, to listen and to work collaboratively towards these common aims.”

Cllr Kelly added he hopes this will encourage more drivers and operators to engage in the forum.

The 15-year policy did not include electric or zero-emission vehicles.

So did DfT really want 20-year-old taxis on the road, or maybe they actually meant controlling emissions via Euro6 rules or whatever, rather than an arbitrary age rule?

So in the like of Dundee you can't get a new plate without presenting an EV, and then all the stress and inconvenience for drivers that entails. Assuming you manage to avoid being kicked to death at an EV charging point

But in the likes of West Suffolk, any old junk will suffice

Captured, much?


Aye, but maybe not in the way you're hoping...

For what it's worth, don't know the other spec rules, but the photos accompanying the article look like it's mostly saloon HCs in the area

And I've seen these photos before, and pretty sure that was a few years ago...

(Although can't be bothered looking back, but these photos look like they could be from different council areas, or maybe they've changed the rules on signage and markings etc. Or did they have some sort of amalgamation but retained the old zones and rules, or similar? )

Both those photos are taken in Bury St edmonds I blieve

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

No.

Councils have always had the flexibility to allow individual drivers to run different vehicles or operate under different rules, depending on the circumstances of the time.

So the council didn't need to change the rules for everyone just because an individual's requirements were different.

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IDFIMH

I challenged Shepway DC about age limits about 18 years ago and won the day. The council withdrew their challenge and agreed that it sould depend on vehicle condition.

There was a case in Madrid very recently where residents chlleneged the age limit on all vehicles. The judges there found in favour of the people as it forced those who could ill afford new cars to buy them. It limited their freedom of movement. I know we're no longer part of he EU, but it's still a relevant argument in my view.

For what it's worth, this is the council's press release. Quickly skimming it I can only really see one significant thing that wasn't in the press rehash above - highlighted below.

(Although there does seem to be a bit more gladhanding stuff from the councillor...)


Taxi driver’s request at first forum could see policy change agreed

04 Mar 2025

https://www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/news/pr20250304ws01.cfm

A taxi driver’s request for West Suffolk Council to amend part of its licensing policy could be answered next week when Cabinet discusses making the changes.

As part of an effort by the council to try to increase engagement with the taxi trade, West Suffolk Council has started to hold driver and operator’s forums. The purpose of these forums is to allow drivers and operators to discuss any issues or concerns they have. It also provides the council with an additional method for communicating and ensuring the trade is up to date on national and local changes that affect them.

The first of the forums was held earlier this year during which a West Suffolk driver asked for the council to consider a change to its policy around the maximum age of vehicle drivers are allowed to use.

The council’s policy adopted in 2022 included a requirement due to come into effect in April this year, for all taxis and private hire vehicles to be no older than 15 years old. This does not include electric or zero emission vehicles.

The policy was intended as a way of trying to remove older, higher polluting vehicles from the roads, helping to deliver a cleaner, more environmentally friendly fleet.

At the forum, the driver highlighted that since the policy had been adopted, the Department for Transport had issued guidance which states, “the setting of an arbitrary age limit may be inappropriate,” and that emissions should be managed through vehicle testing

Cllr Gerald Kelly, Cabinet Member for Governance, Regulatory and Environment wrote to the trade after the forum to say the council wouldn’t be enforcing the vehicle age limit while this policy amendment is being considered.

And next Tuesday will see him ask Cabinet to agree to the change.

“As the licensing authority with a responsibility to our communities, and to economic growth, we want many of the same things as the trade,” Cllr Kelly said.

“We want the taxi trade to thrive. We want people to feel and be safe, and to be confident both with the driver and the vehicle, and the taxi service as a profession.”

“We want people of all ages and abilities to be able to access taxis and to feel like they are getting the same high standards of service that many drivers undoubtedly pride themselves on.”

“And we want to work with the trade as national changes come in around vehicle emissions including the eventual phasing out of new petrol and diesel cars.”

“In all of this, we want to have more of an open dialogue between the council and the trade, to listen and to work collaboratively towards these common aims.”

“That’s why I’m delighted that one of our drivers asked for this change at our forum – it’s what it’s there for. I will be asking Cabinet to agree the change next week and through listening and delivering change, I hope we will encourage more drivers and operators to take part in the forum.”

Bravo - I mean, all those 20-year-old electric/zero emission vehicles knocking round which could have taken advantage of that exemption


And abandoning a 15-year age rule helps that how?

Anyway, this is the DfT's best practice guidance referred to. Does this really sound like it wants to allow 20-year-old diesels (say) on the road?

And also consider the stuff above in the context of the guidance as a whole - to repeat, does this really sound like the DfT is saying that age-rules are arbitrary because they want 20-year old diesels on the road, say?


I think the council here have taken a few words in the DfT's guidance totally out of context. To narrow it down, words like 'age', 'limit' and 'arbitrary'.

The cynic in me would say this is all a lot of clueless councillors trying to appear a little bit less clueless than they actually are.

Great that they are talking to the local trade, but wishy-washy policies that have no real long-term impact on anything helps no one.

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IDFIMH

Our council wont change the air limin in line with best practice but they have changed their policy on wheelchair vehicles because there was only 1 Hackney WAV licensed in the borough. The change made was to force any operator with 5 or more vehicles to have at least 1 WAV. The affect of doing this has meant fewer licensed vehicles because there is no demand for wheelchair vehicles so no one now has more than 4 vehicles and we still only have the 1 WAV hackney in the whole Borough. One private hire company transfered the charnwood plated WAV to Melton but you can't book it because it is never available. It only does a school run.
But the Council know best.

All of which in turn underlines why the James Button plan was one big non-starter.

I mean, wouldn't it have entailed every local authority in England, effectively, to agree a spec for PHVs, such as age rules (or lack thereof), CCTV (or lack thereof), testing, blah, blah.

So unless every council agreed to a bottom-of-the-barrel spec, there would always be some who would have relatively lower specs, thus incentivising cross-bordering

The Bury St edmonds rules are not as strict as many councils and I must admit it does generally improve standards and keeps the tatty wrecks that used to frequent the ranks out of the trade. I think the big issue is that judging vehicles on their condition is subjective. Far better to speify euro 6/7 for new vehicles but anything not euro 5 (diesel,4 petrol) cannot continue to be licensed. In a couple of years time amend that upwards.

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

What is stopping you having Grandad PHVs as an operator with 4 cars, and Grandad 1 PHVs as an operator with 4 cars, and so on?

Will cost you extra for the ops licenses but you only have to pay it every 5 years.

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IDFIMH