TAXI CROSS BORDER: What did Mayor Andy Burnham say and how does Manchester plan to tackle out-of-area working?
- Perry Richardson
- Apr 17
- 3 min read
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has launched a campaign demanding major changes to England’s taxi licensing laws. He says the current system leaves city-regions unable to ensure the safety, standards and accountability of thousands of private hire vehicles operating in their areas.
The call follows the expansion of the Bee Network and new figures showing that nearly half of private hire vehicles in Greater Manchester are now licensed outside the city-region’s ten councils. Much of this growth is linked to a rise in licences issued by City of Wolverhampton Council, which now licenses over 11% of all private hire vehicles in England.
Under current legislation, vehicles can operate in Greater Manchester without holding a local licence, weakening council oversight and disconnecting drivers from the areas they serve.
At the launch of the ‘Backing our taxis: Local. Licensed. Trusted.’ campaign, Mayor Burnham said the English Devolution Bill must be amended to give Mayoral Combined Authorities powers over local taxi licensing and stop ‘out of area’ operations. He believes this would help raise safety standards, increase public confidence, and support drivers by aligning local policy with community needs.
The Mayor is also calling for wider government support to help drivers transition to cleaner and more accessible vehicles. This includes extending VAT exemptions to new wheelchair-accessible taxis, prolonging the national Plug-In Taxi Grant, and lowering VAT rates for public EV charging.
A 12-week review of licensing policy in Greater Manchester is now underway, led by Sara Todd, Chief Executive of Trafford Council, and supported by consultants ARUP/AECOM. The review will gather views from the taxi trade through questionnaires, surveys, and interviews, aiming to identify improvements in process efficiency, standards, and financial incentives.
As part of the region’s Clean Air Plan, Greater Manchester has secured £8 million to support Hackney carriage drivers in upgrading their vehicles. The review will also explore how private hire drivers can be supported through similar funding options, including low interest loans.
Council leaders have backed proposals to give drivers more time to comply with vehicle emission standards, with a new target date set for the end of 2026. Exemptions for vehicles meeting age-limit conditions will also be considered.
The Mayor said these measures are not just about passenger safety, but also about making Greater Manchester a better place for drivers to work and thrive.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said:
“Taxis are a crucial part of our transport network. Just as we set out to with Bee Network buses, we want our taxi fleet to be amongst the safest and most trusted in the country. But we can’t do this with the current broken licensing system. Local leaders have zero oversight over nearly half the private hire vehicles on our streets, with no relationship with the drivers, no levers to enforce the standards we want and no control over the numbers of taxis serving our communities.
“We want to guarantee our residents that if they’re getting in a Greater Manchester taxi – no matter how they book it – it’s one that meets high standards we expect across all public transport. To do that, we need national change in the English Devolution Bill to both devolve taxi powers to city-regions and stop the ability for vehicles and drivers licensed in non-GM authorities to operate here. Such a change will give political leaders more control over measures that impact public safety, vehicle standards, emissions and accessibility.
“But this is as much about making Greater Manchester the best place to be a taxi driver – and safeguarding the livelihoods of our cab drivers – as it is about passengers. They’ve been under immense pressure over the last few years, and we want to get behind them.
“We’re today kickstarting in-depth discussions with the trade. We want to get under the bonnet of the issues that affect them, review how we can improve our own licensing and incentivise them to register here without dropping standards. We’re committed to doing what we can under the current system, but it will only be effective if it’s done in lockstep with change on out of area licensing at a national level.”
