Barnsley Council set to retain 67-taxi cap after unmet demand falls to 1%

Barnsley Council officers have recommended retaining the borough’s hackney carriage limit after new research found improved availability, shorter passenger delays and greater peak-time fleet activity.

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council is being advised to retain its limit of 67 licensed hackney carriages after a taxi demand survey found latent demand had fallen from 9% in 2023 to 1% in 2026.

The findings will be presented to the council’s Licensing Regulatory Board on 2 September. Officers have also recommended continuing the town centre taxi marshal service and the programme of installing CCTV in licensed vehicles.

Barnsley has maintained a numerical limit on hackney carriage licences since the authority was formed. Under Department for Transport best practice guidance published in November 2023, councils retaining quantity controls must regularly assess whether significant unmet demand exists.

The latest study was conducted in March 2026 following the installation of CCTV in Barnsley-licensed hackney carriages. It included consultations with passengers, drivers, disability groups and local businesses, together with observations at taxi ranks. The main ranks were monitored continuously from Thursday to Sunday.

Passenger demand recorded during the observations fell to 4,811, compared with 5,467 in 2023. Despite the lower demand, the proportion of Barnsley’s hackney carriage fleet recorded as active increased from 52% to 73%.

Saturday evening plate activity between 8pm and 10pm reached 63%, up from 47% in 2023. The survey found that the largest increase in activity occurred overnight from Saturday into Sunday, when late-night taxi availability is usually placed under the greatest pressure.

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Average passenger delay fell from 2.07 minutes in 2023 to 0.67 minutes during the latest survey. The report also records that the measure for passengers queueing for more than one minute dropped from 59.9 to 20.84, although the council’s summary does not specify the unit used for those figures.

Rank misuse also declined substantially. Observers recorded 4,284 vehicle movements at or near ranks, down from 6,045 during the previous study. Cars were identified as improperly using rank space in 3.3% of observations, compared with 21% in 2023.

Almost three in ten vehicles observed during the exercise, 29%, were licensed by authorities outside Barnsley. The figure demonstrates the continuing operational presence of cross-border licensed vehicles within the borough, although the report does not provide a breakdown by licensing authority.

CCTV received broad support from both passengers and drivers. Of 158 members of the public questioned on the street, 90% said CCTV made them feel safe when travelling, while 3% were unhappy about its introduction.

Among hackney carriage drivers surveyed, 88% said CCTV made them feel safer at work. Some 71% said the equipment enabled them to work hours they would previously have avoided.

However, 17% of drivers reported continuing to avoid customers they considered more difficult, up from 8% in 2023. The report does not explain the reason for that increase or provide the number of drivers responding to that question.

Council officers said the reduction in unmet demand appeared to result from a combination of lower passenger numbers and increased taxi activity during peak periods. The report links the additional fleet activity to the fare increase, CCTV installation and the presence of taxi marshals.

Although the survey found that some unmet demand remained, it concluded that the reduction since 2023 was sufficiently large that further analysis was not warranted. The board is therefore being asked to note the findings and retain the existing hackney carriage limit.