MOTION CALLED: Peterborough councillors push for national CCTV taxi standards and funding amid cross border concerns
- Perry Richardson
- 2 minutes ago
- 2 min read
A proposal put to Peterborough City Council sets out growing concern over the absence of a consistent national standard for CCTV in licensed taxis and private hire vehicles, warning that the current patchwork of rules is leaving passengers, drivers and licensing authorities exposed.
The motion, tabled by Councillor Mohammed Jamil and seconded by Councillor Noreen Bi, argues that without central regulation and funding, safety expectations will continue to differ significantly depending on where a vehicle is licensed.
The motion notes that local authorities across England and Wales take widely different approaches to in-vehicle CCTV, with some mandating cameras, others making installation voluntary, and some preventing their use altogether. This has created uneven safeguarding standards, with data handling and access processes varying just as widely. According to the document, the result is confusion for passengers, inconsistency for operators and difficulties for enforcement teams trying to uphold professional standards across mixed fleets.
Peterborough’s position is further complicated by the number of out-of-area licensed vehicles working routinely within the city. The councillors argue that even if Peterborough adopted a strict local CCTV requirement, it would not apply to vehicles licensed elsewhere but dispatched locally.
Peterborough motion highlights fragmented vehicle camera rules and calls for government backed national framework
They warn that the same operator can send a Peterborough-licensed car equipped with CCTV to one passenger and, minutes later, send a vehicle from another licensing district with no cameras at all. This inconsistency, they say, creates a safeguarding gap and undermines passenger confidence.
The motion acknowledges the benefits already demonstrated by CCTV, including improved protection for vulnerable passengers, reduced risk of unfounded allegations against drivers and better evidence for investigations. However, councillors stress that many drivers and operators are self-employed and already facing higher costs covering insurance, fuel, maintenance and licensing. Without national financial backing, localised requirements risk adding further pressure to drivers while failing to address the broader regulatory disparity created by cross-border operation.
To address the issue, the council is calling on Transport Secretary Andrew Pakes MP and Sam Carling MP to support a single regulated CCTV standard across England and Wales. The motion proposes that the Department for Transport work with licensing authorities, industry bodies and data protection specialists on a unified framework covering equipment, data security, access procedures and operational expectations. It also urges the Government to introduce funding support, whether via grants or tax relief, to help drivers cover installation and maintenance costs.
Councillors argue that only a nationally mandated system can remove the inconsistency created by cross-border licensing and ensure that safety standards are applied evenly. The motion states that uniform rules would create a fairer environment for the trade, strengthen local enforcement and deliver consistent safeguarding for passengers regardless of where a vehicle is licensed. Peterborough City Council concludes by reaffirming its commitment to pushing for evidence-based national reform to support both public safety and the long-term sustainability of the taxi and private hire sector.
