Taxi Driver Online

This is the feedback from a recent drivers meeting with the Council.

At the recent Taxi Forum we heard further comments from drivers and listened to your concerns regarding some aspects of the policy. Drivers did have the opportunity to make these comments during the consultation and comments outside of the formal consultation period should be disregarded. However, we are keen to work with you and where possible implement changes to reflect any concerns or comments. We have therefore agreed to revisit 3 aspects of the policy and reflect on them in light of your comments:



Policy on the Maximum age of Licenced vehicle

In light of the driver comments we have revised the policy and have agreed that

All licenced vehicles must meet the Euro 6 Standard and
New licenced vehicles must be no more that 10 years old (9 years and 364 days) at the time of first licensing and
Vehicles can be licenced up to a maximum age of 15 years and
All vehicles over 8 years old must be subject to 6 monthly inspections
Note: this decision allows drivers to maintain older vehicles which helps reduce costs. However, we have retained a maximum age limit which is inline with neighbouring authorities for consistency and to avoid a potential influx of ‘out of town’ drivers attracted by a ‘no maximum age of vehicle’ requirement.



Clothing Policy

We have agreed to the following policy wording on clothing:

All drivers are requested to dress smartly and maintain a clean and tidy
appearance

Drivers should maintain good personal hygiene.

All clothing and footwear should be clean and not damaged
No logos or graphics which might offend
Appropriate footwear must be worn at all times, for driving and the operation of any ancillary equipment. i.e. Flip flops / insecure sandals are not allowed.


Policy on the 1 Year driver licence

The policy on the 1-year driver licence has been considered but retained.

At present, all drivers with a reasonable justification can apply once for a 1 year licence. This is seen as reasonable approach to allow drivers who are considering becoming drivers or who may be finishing soon, to make an informed choice.

Allowing any driver to renew annually requires more processing costs and any increased costs would need to be passed on to the trade. Therefore, the current approach remains most suitable.

The new Policy will come into force on the 2 February 2026 and will be able to be viewed on the Melton Borough Council Taxi Licensing webpage.

How about being in line with the DfT's Best Practice Guidance?

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IDFIMH

This was my argument at the meeting. However I don't supose that they have realised that by stating all vehicles must meet EURO 6 that they have just banned all electric vehicles because they don't have any emmisions so do not even get a EURO classification.