“A BROKEN SYSTEM”: Greater Manchester to launch taxi campaign against rise in out-of-area licensing
- Perry Richardson
- Apr 16
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 17
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has announced new plans to address the growing issue of out-of-area private hire licensing, which is affecting the city-region’s control over its taxi and private hire network.
At a press conference alongside Bury Council Leader and Clean Air lead Cllr Eamonn O’Brien, Burnham revealed that 49% of private hire drivers currently operating in Greater Manchester are licensed by authorities outside the region. One external licensing authority now issues more than 11% of all private hire licences in England, a sharp increase from just 0.4% a decade ago.
Burnham called the current licensing setup “a broken system”, adding that local authorities had lost the ability to ensure safety, enforce standards or maintain accountability for services operating in their own areas.
As part of a new initiative titled “Backing our Taxis”, Greater Manchester is launching a campaign aimed at encouraging other areas to support a call for national legislative reform. The campaign will run alongside a trade engagement effort to gain direct feedback from drivers and operators on how to create a fair and effective framework.
The city-region is requesting that Government introduce new laws to prevent cross-border licensing, give more local control over driver and vehicle standards, and improve public trust in the system. Additional requests include financial support for greener vehicles and VAT changes to make wheelchair accessible taxis and electric charging more affordable.
Greater Manchester’s authorities are warning they are close to having more out-of-area vehicles operating within the city-region than those licensed locally, a tipping point that has prompted urgent calls for reform.
Burnham dismissed suggestions that the problem of cross-border working is aimed at one individual licensing authority, insisting the failure lies with the national system itself. He said: “It’s not about criticising one local authority today, let me stress that again, it’s the system that is broken and that’s what needs fixing.”
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “Taxis are a crucial part of our transport network. Just as we set out to with Bee Network buses, we want our taxi fleet to be amongst the safest and most trusted in the country. But we can’t do this with the current broken licensing system. Local leaders have zero oversight over nearly half the private hire vehicles on our streets, with no relationship with the drivers, no levers to enforce the standards we want and no control over the numbers of taxis serving our communities.
“We want to guarantee our residents that if they’re getting in a Greater Manchester taxi – no matter how they book it – it’s one that meets high standards we expect across all public transport. To do that, we need national change in the English Devolution Bill to both devolve taxi powers to city-regions and stop the ability for vehicles and drivers licensed in non-GM authorities to operate here. Such a change will give political leaders more control over measures that impact public safety, vehicle standards, emissions and accessibility.
“But this is as much about making Greater Manchester the best place to be a taxi driver – and safeguarding the livelihoods of our cab drivers – as it is about passengers. They’ve been under immense pressure over the last few years, and we want to get behind them.
“We’re today kickstarting in-depth discussions with the trade. We want to get under the bonnet of the issues that affect them, review how we can improve our own licensing and incentivise them to register here without dropping standards. We’re committed to doing what we can under the current system, but it will only be effective if it’s done in lockstep with change on out of area licensing at a national level.”
Leader of Bury Council and Clean Air lead for Greater Manchester, Cllr Eamonn O’Brien, said: “The importance of taxi and private hire vehicles cannot be underestimated in keeping people across Greater Manchester moving day in, day out.
“They support our visitor and night-time economy by providing door-to-door transport for thousands of residents and workers and play a role in helping improve air quality on the city-region's roads.
“Just like the Bee Network, we want to have the right standards in place to encourage drivers to license here in Greater Manchester. But we understand the pressure being faced by drivers, and that’s why we want to work with the trade to find out how we can best ensure all journeys are safe and reliable for passengers. We also want to provide the right support and time to help them transition to cleaner vehicles, helping deliver a cleaner, greener city-region.”
