Council backs card payments and new checks for Darlington taxis
- Perry Richardson
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Darlington Borough Council is set to update its taxi and private hire vehicle licensing policy following a public consultation that drew 182 responses and months of review by its Licensing Committee, according to a report gone before Full Council.
The proposed changes, recommended by the council’s Licensing Committee, would introduce mandatory disability awareness training for drivers, require all licensed vehicles to offer card payment options, and move newer vehicles onto an annual rather than six-monthly mechanical inspection regime. Councillors were asked to approve the amendments at a Full Council meeting following the conclusion of the consultation in August 2025.
The policy review covers both hackney carriages and private hire vehicles licensed by Darlington Borough Council. The council currently licenses 262 vehicles, split almost evenly between hackney carriages and private hire, alongside 360 drivers and six private hire operators. The existing policy was last fully reviewed in January 2021, with interim changes agreed in 2022 to support the trade’s recovery from Covid-19.
One of the most strongly supported proposals was the requirement for drivers to provide customers with the option to pay by card, backed by almost 94% of respondents. Council officers cited frequent disputes at taxi ranks when cash-only drivers refuse passengers who have waited but do not carry cash, as well as wider safety concerns linked to vulnerable passengers being unable to secure a journey home.
Mandatory disability training and card payments backed as councillors consider updated hackney carriage and private hire policy
Mandatory disability awareness training also gained majority support and is intended to improve services for passengers with mobility and access needs. The council plans to develop an online training package with local disability groups, with completion required for both new applicants and licence renewals. Officers said the training would be introduced gradually and would not involve a direct financial charge to drivers beyond the time taken to complete it.
By contrast, councillors stopped short of recommending compulsory inward-facing CCTV in vehicles, despite around 64% of consultation respondents supporting the idea. The committee concluded that making CCTV mandatory would raise proportionality and data protection issues, increase costs for both drivers and the council, and risk incentivising operators to licence vehicles outside the borough. Voluntary installation will continue to be encouraged, subject to Information Commissioner’s Office guidance.
Other proposed changes include revised private hire signage to better distinguish pre-booked vehicles from hackney carriages, daily recorded vehicle safety checks by drivers, and the introduction of a local points-based system for minor licensing breaches. The system would not affect motorists’ driving licences but would be used to flag patterns of non-compliance and trigger further review where necessary.
The review also takes place against a wider national backdrop, with the Department for Transport consulting on transferring taxi and private hire licensing powers to local transport authorities. Council officers noted that any such reform could eventually require a Tees Valley-wide policy, potentially reshaping how licensing is managed across the region.
