Stafford Borough Council has updated its taxi licensing policy to permit black hackney carriages in the area, ending its long-standing rule that only white vehicles could be used.
The move, approved by a full council meeting on Tuesday, September 9, was made in response to a request from the taxi trade.
According to a council report, the change was necessary because white vehicles are "becoming harder to come by and waiting lists can be up to 12-15 months, thereby presenting a barrier to the trade."
The new policy, which covers 2025-2030, also introduces an incentive for drivers to purchase wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs), which are "very expensive to buy."
The new rule will permit WAV owners to license a standard saloon vehicle as a hackney carriage after they have licensed a WAV for eight consecutive years.
The report stated that this change will "hopefully attract more hackney carriage proprietors, which are currently declining quite rapidly, whilst retaining enough WAVs within the trade for those customers who require them.”
In addition to the new colour policy, the council confirmed its commitment to transitioning to greener vehicles.
The new policy mandates that all licensed vehicles must be hybrid, electric, or hydrogen-fuelled by 2030.
While the taxi trade had requested this deadline be extended to 2035, the council deemed the earlier date "reasonable and proportionate," noting that the UK government's ban on new petrol and diesel cars begins in 2030.
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, September 11, Chris Webb MP highlighted the negative impact on the local economy and the livelihoods of taxi drivers.
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