CROSS BORDER: Greater Manchester looks to BAN taxis and PHVs licensed outside of region

Taxis and private hire vehicles not licensed in Greater Manchester should be BANNED from the area to aid clean air targets, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said.

Greater Manchester are now looking for the Government to bring in new regulations to enforce the unique ban not seen anywhere in the UK before.

The premise of taxi and Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) ‘cross border’ hiring has challenged Local Authorities for a number of years. Under the rules, taxis and PHVs from other licensing authorities can be pre-booked to pick up outside of the area they are licensed in.

Different licensing authorities have different sets of standards both for the drivers and the vehicles they are able to drive. Greater Manchester’s ten local authorities are now looking to introduce joint minimum licensing standards for all taxis and private hire vehicles in the region.

Andy Burnham said on BBC Radio Manchester: "What we're saying to the government is help us by giving us the power to stop people undercutting our standards and driving around in older vehicles.

"And that could help towards the compliance for the Clean Air Zone.

"Newer taxis are much more likely to be compliant and what we want is the ability to both require newer vehicles on our roads but also provide funding to taxi drivers to upgrade their vehicles."