Bury licensing officers want a short extension for the last private hire vehicles that still miss the borough’s emissions rules. The Licensing and Safety Committee is due to consider the report tonight. If members agree, it goes to full council on 11 November. Nothing has been changed yet.
What would actually move
The current rule is that a non-compliant private hire vehicle has to be replaced by 4 January 2027. The standard itself would stay: Euro 4 for petrol, Euro 6 for diesel.
The report asks members to let an existing proprietor renew after 4 January if the vehicle still misses that standard, but only where the vehicle passes the council’s compliance test. The new licence would carry a condition that the vehicle is taken off and replaced by 31 May 2027.
After that date, the Head of Public Protection, the licensing unit manager or the deputy licensing officer could suspend, revoke or refuse to renew, each case on its own facts. The report’s flowchart shows a licence suspended if the old vehicle is still on the road after 31 May, and revoked if it has not been changed within two months.
Officers looked at keeping the January date, and at a shorter extension. They are recommending neither.
Why 21 vehicles, and why now
In August 2024, Bury had 152 non-compliant private hire vehicles in a fleet of 712, about 21 per cent. By September 2026 that was 21 vehicles in a fleet of 710, about 3 per cent.
The Greater Manchester Private Hire Support Fund opened on 15 September 2026. Officers say the gap between that date and 4 January may not be long enough to get a grant approved, find a replacement and get it licensed. At the Trade Liaison Group on 7 September, trade representatives said the same thing. September’s committee minutes also record a £2,500 non-repayable grant for an eligible diesel private hire vehicle first registered before 1 September 2015. A wheelchair-accessible vehicle replaced through the scheme has to be replaced with another wheelchair-accessible vehicle.
Hackneys are not the subject of this extension. Those minutes say every eligible Bury hackney proprietor had already accepted the upgrade funding on offer.
The original transition was agreed by the licensing committee on 5 June 2025 and ratified by full council on 16 July 2025. Officers say they already had some delegated room to adjust dates when funding appeared, but moving the deadline is significant enough to go back to committee and then to full council.
Still earlier than parts of Greater Manchester
The same Euro 4 petrol and Euro 6 diesel floor is used across Greater Manchester. The dates are not. Bury’s proposed 31 May 2027 would still be earlier than Wigan’s 31 December 2027, and much earlier than the 31 August 2030 dates officers record for Bolton and Rochdale. Manchester, Oldham and Stockport are working to 31 December 2026, with Stockport allowing the same non-compliant vehicle to be renewed until August 2030. Trafford’s date matches Bury’s current one: 4 January 2027.
Officers also note a local risk. If Bury holds the January date and a neighbouring council does not, a proprietor may licence somewhere else. The report says the change would cost the council nothing directly. Licensing is paid for by fees.