HARTLEPOOL TAXI DRIVERS PETITION PERSUADES LICENSING CHIEFS TO REVISE EMISSIONS POLICY

Council chiefs are to look to alter rules on taxi age limits for certain vehicles following a petition from drivers around the cost impact of upcoming changes.

Currently Hartlepool Borough Council’s private hire and hackney carriage policy states taxis must be Euro 6 compliant by April 1, 2025.

The council’s policy also states at present a licence will only be granted for a vehicle to operate as a taxi when it is under five years old from date of first registration.

However, a petition from Khalid Hussain, from Khalid Taxis, proposed to change the council’s policy to remove the age limit for Euro 6 vehicles and instead simply state the vehicles must be in “good condition” and meet other checks.

It also looked to delay the date by which vehicles must be Euro 6 compliant.

Mr Hussain stated he has 11 taxis, eight of which are only “Euro 5” standard, and the estimated cost to replace them all in line with the council’s current age rules would exceed £80,000.

The petition was signed by 52 vehicle owners, with Mr Hussain noting “many drivers may struggle financially to make this change”, highlighting the lasting impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The information went before the latest meeting of the council’s licensing committee, where officers had recommended no changes were made.

However, after hearing from Mr Hussain and another taxi driver, councillors decided to alter the policy to allow older Euro 6 vehicles to be licensed by the local authority, subject to them being in good condition.

It was agreed officers would go away and draw up a revised document to reflect this and come back before the panel in March.

In the meantime, councillors decided to alter the policy to allow older Euro 6 vehicles to be licensed by the local authority, subject to them being in good condition.

Implementation of the Euro 6 emission standard was also postponed from April 2023 to April 2025 to take into consideration the financial strains placed upon the trade by Covid-19.

The council currently licenses 229 private hire and hackney carriage vehicles of which 33 are not Euro 6 compliant.

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