
Crawley Borough Council has unveiled plans to simplify its taxi licensing system by introducing a "dual licence" that covers both hackney carriages and private hire vehicles.
The proposal is designed to modernise the licensing system, reduce duplication, and improve efficiency while maintaining all required safety, knowledge, and training standards.
The single application process will help drivers save time and avoid paying two sets of fees and undergoing separate processes.
Currently, over 100 drivers in the town hold both hackney carriage and private hire badges.
While the new system will be much faster, the council insisted that it will not result in lower standards as drivers will still be required to pass all the necessary training and knowledge tests for both types of licence.
Councillor Yasmin Khan, Cabinet member for Public Protection, said the change is designed to support local operators. “We want to make it easier for our hard-working taxi drivers to expand their business,” she stated. “This proposal is about making our licensing system simpler for drivers, while keeping all of our high safety and compliance standards firmly in place.”
The council believes that removing the extra paperwork will allow drivers to focus on their work rather than bureaucracy.
Councillor Khan added: “By introducing a single dual licence, we can reduce unnecessary duplication for taxi drivers so that they can get on and take bookings.”

At Bolton Council’s licensing committee on January 6, the council highlighted its strict stance on driver conduct, resulting in one suspension and one final warning for the operators involved.

The council is considering new rules that would require taxi & PH firms to carry out criminal record checks on all staff members and notify passengers if their driver is licensed in a different town.

The incident took place just before 1am on Wednesday, February 4, on Mardale Road, where a taxi parked on a private driveway was set on fire.

Darren McCartney, a former prison officer and hostage negotiator, appeared before the North Ayrshire Licensing Committee following objections from Police Scotland regarding his criminal record.

Drivers are proposing to scrap the percentage-based surcharge in favour of entirely new, higher fixed tariffs for larger vehicles carrying up to eight people.

The St Annes-on-Sea operator has partnered with Greenway Power Group (GPG) and the Patons Group to provide the technology, which is also being made available for public use.

Officers stormed properties on February 5, detaining a woman, 42, and a man, 46, on suspicion of fraud; a man, 22, on suspicion of handling stolen goods; nd a man, 18, on suspicion of aggravated vehicle taking.

Abdulsalam Idlebi was found in breach of discrimination policies following the incident at a taxi rank on Irvine’s Bank Street last November.

Police have issued a fresh plea for help exactly one year after the body of 47-year-old Jesbir Singh Khela was discovered in a burnt-out car.

The cost of a standard one-year driver’s licence would jump from £150 to £165, while those opting for a three-year licence would see prices climb from £240 to £264.

Less than a third of taxi drivers in Greater Manchester are using new government-funded grants to switch to electric vehicles, according to research by the Clean Cities Campaign.

Under the new timeline, drivers must have a vehicle newer than a 2009 plate by December 1 of this year to renew their licence, with standards tightening further to a 2014 plate by 2028.

Research by Go.Compare Car Insurance found that 46% of adults “wouldn’t feel safe using a driverless Uber,” highlighting a significant hurdle for the government-backed technology currently being trialled in the capital.

Councillors in the Royal Borough are set to make a final decision on Monday 9 February, on a proposed 10 per cent increase to daytime taxi fares.

A North Ayrshire man has been denied a taxi licence following a "very serious" series of alcohol-fuelled offences that included stamping on a customer's face and assaulting police officers.

Alex Kendall, boss of British tech company Wayve, posted a video on social media to show off his car's “impressive drive without intervention” on his way to receive an OBE.

A Wolverhampton-licensed private hire driver's licence has been revoked for using illegal number plates and fraudulent insurance.

The pair, aged 50 and 23, convinced the driver to take them from Lisbon, Portugal, all the way to Barcelona, Spain.

Officers pulled over the Toyota Prius on Brown Street and discovered what they believe to be illegal drugs inside the car.

Members of the district council have adopted a new HC and PH licensing policy removing the requirement for the knowledge test to make it easier and cheaper for people to start working as drivers.
