Mayor unveils his big taxi plan
Mayor Andy Burnham has launched a campaign to reform taxi licensing in Greater Manchester, addressing issues like out-of-area working and safety standards. The plan includes requests to the government for new laws, VAT exemptions, and extended grants, alongside local efforts to unify licensing systems. A 12-week engagement exercise will precede a report to the Combined Authority in autumn. Hackney cab drivers have also secured an extra year to upgrade their vehicles to meet emissions standards.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham launched a major campaign Wednesday to overhaul the region’s taxi industry, calling for new government legislation to stop the flood of out-of-area licenses that he warns has broken the regulatory system.
The “Backing Our Taxis” initiative comes as 43 percent of private hire vehicles operating in Greater Manchester are licensed outside the region’s 10 boroughs, with drivers registering in councils like Wolverhampton where permits are easier to obtain. Burnham told reporters the current system has left the city-region “on the verge of not licensing the majority of our taxis.”
“The taxi licensing system is demonstrably a broken system,” Burnham declared at the April 16 press conference. “We’re just about hanging on. But if the growth [in out-of-area] licenses continues, we will no longer licence the majority of our taxis.”
The mayor’s proposals include extending VAT exemptions for wheelchair-accessible taxis, continuing the plug-in taxi grant through March 2027, and slashing VAT on public EV charging to 5 percent. But Burnham acknowledged Greater Manchester must first “raise its game” by creating a unified licensing system across all boroughs to encourage drivers to obtain local permits.
Trafford Council chief executive Sara Todd, collaborating with Burnham on the reforms, announced a 12-week public engagement exercise beginning immediately. “The intention is we are in a place by summer to understand what we are going to do with the Hackney trade,” she said, with final recommendations expected at the Combined Authority in autumn.
The campaign launch brought immediate relief for Hackney cab drivers facing a December 31 deadline to upgrade to cleaner vehicles under Greater Manchester’s clean air plan. Drivers warned that 1,350 vehicles couldn’t possibly meet the £95,000-£100,000 cost for new compliant cabs by year’s end. Authorities have now granted an extra year for the upgrades, with individual councils set to approve the extension through their licensing committees.
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