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Hartlepool set to keep mandatory yellow taxi livery after review
Hartlepool’s yellow hackney carriage fleet is set to retain its long-standing colour requirement after a council review found strong support for keeping the existing licensing rule.
A report going before Hartlepool Borough Council’s Licensing Committee on 23 September recommends that the authority makes no changes to its Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Licensing Policy on vehicle colour.
Under the existing policy, all hackney carriages, including previously colour-coded external trims, boot areas, door edges and frames, must be professionally painted or wrapped in one of two specified non-standard shades of yellow. Officers have recommended that requirement remains unchanged.
The review followed a request submitted to the licensing authority on 1 September 2025 seeking an amendment to the colour requirement. The issue was considered by the Licensing Committee the following month, when councillors agreed that a formal consultation should be carried out with the taxi trade and public.
That consultation ran from 8 July to 28 August 2026 and was promoted through the council website, social media and directly to licensed drivers, operators and vehicle owners. It attracted 491 responses, with 418 respondents saying Hartlepool hackney carriages should remain yellow.
The result equates to about 85% of respondents supporting the existing colour. The survey graphic included also shows yellow attracting by far the largest share of responses, with much smaller numbers choosing white, black or another colour.
The review was prompted by Taxi Cab Services (Hartlepool) Ltd, trading as Blueline, which argued that the requirement to repaint or wrap vehicles in a non-standard yellow imposed additional costs and could make fleet renewal more difficult. The company told the council that a professional wrap or respray now costs more than £2,000 on top of the purchase price of a vehicle.
Blueline also said it wanted to introduce newer vehicles, including Tesla electric cars, but claimed the yellow requirement created a financial barrier because the vehicles it was considering were supplied in standard colours including red, blue, black, white and grey. The operator proposed that partial yellow liveries could provide a distinctive appearance at a lower cost, with illustrative prices of £368 plus VAT, £550 plus VAT and £600 plus VAT.
Council officers acknowledged what the report described as a “compelling commercial argument” concerning full resprays and the potential barriers to introducing electric vehicles. However, they said the operator’s position stood against the consultation response, with 418 of the 491 respondents wanting the yellow requirement retained.
The report also identifies competing operational risks whichever route councillors take. It says changing the policy in line with Blueline’s request could result in the loss of hackney carriage vehicles or drivers, while retaining the existing requirement carries a stated risk of Blueline leaving the borough as an operator. The same potential outcomes are listed as financial considerations.
Blueline’s submission said Hartlepool licensed 164 hackney carriages in 2013, falling to 132 in 2019 and 119 in 2024, figures it said represented a 28% reduction over the period. It argued that reducing the cost of complying with the livery policy could support investment in the remaining fleet.
Those arguments did not change the recommendation emerging from the review. Officers said the consultation provided the reason for retaining the current policy, citing the 418 respondents who explicitly wanted Hartlepool hackney carriages to remain yellow.
Hartlepool currently distinguishes the two licensed sectors through vehicle appearance as well as operating rules. The council states that hackney carriages are yellow and may be hailed in the street or use taxi ranks, while private hire vehicles can be any colour except yellow and must be pre-booked.
The recommendation remains subject to the Licensing Committee’s decision on 23 September. The published papers therefore represent the outcome of the council officer review and consultation rather than a final committee resolution.
