Bury Council support for Common Minimum Licensing Standards

Bury has backed proposals to improve public safety by introducing minimum standards for taxi and private hire drivers, operators and their vehicles.

Following extensive consultation with the trade, Bury – along with the other nine Greater Manchester councils – has agreed to implement Phase 1 of the Common Minimum Licensing Standards which will apply across the city region.

Stage 2 of the CMLS proposals are due to be considered shortly by the GM districts and relate specifically to vehicles, including:

• Vehicle emissions
• Vehicle age
• Colour
• Hackney Carriage wheelchair accessibility
• Vehicle livery (signage)
• Vehicle testing
• CCTV
• Executive Hire Vehicles
• Vehicle design
• Vehicle licence conditions

The Stage 2 report will be considered by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority on 29 October and, if approved, by Bury Council’s licensing and safety committee on 11 November and then by full council on 24 November.

A number of amendments have been made to the original proposals following consultation and feedback from councillors and trade representatives across Greater Manchester.

Bury Council has welcomed the news that Transport for Greater Manchester, working with the Greater Manchester Licensing Network, has been able to secure funding of £21.4 million to help the Hackney Carriage and private hire trade to upgrade to compliant vehicles under the proposed Clean Air Plan.

Councillor Charlotte Morris, Bury Council’s cabinet member for culture and the economy, said: “We have been working hard in Bury to engage with the taxi and private hire trade on these minimum standards. I am pleased to see that the final officer recommendations to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority include a number of changes that reflect the ongoing discussions that I and colleagues on the council have been having with the trade locally.

“The decision to not recommend a date by which vehicles will need to be zero emissions is welcome and, while the aspiration to move to a zero emissions fleet remains, we did not feel that the timetable set originally was appropriate at this time. It is also positive to see that there will not be a recommended single colour for private hire vehicles until further work has been done to understand the risks and benefits of such a policy.

“Our engagement with the trade and with the public on the proposed minimum standards will continue and I look forward to further discussion ahead of Bury Council taking a decision on the recommendations next month. The standards are about public safety and also providing consistency for the trade across GM."

Drivers can find out more about the GM Clean Air Zone and how to apply for clean vehicle funding at www.cleanair.com/clean-air-plans. The financial scheme will open for HGVs in late November 2021 with applications for other affected vehicle types, including taxis and private hire vehicles, due to open in January 2022. Sign up for news and updates on the GM Clean Air Plan at https://cleanairgm.com/#newsletter

ENDS