Peterborough City Council’s Licensing Committee, meeting at Sand Martin House on 8 October, agreed to consult on a draft hackney carriage and private hire policy for 2026 to 2031. The current policy was adopted in June 2022. Nothing in the draft replaces it until consultation is finished, the committee looks at the replies, and full council adopts a final version. The council notice
Officers asked for a statutory consultation of one month, including the trade federation. Councillor Christian Hogg, the cabinet member for regulatory services, said the council would promote it on social media and urged people to reply. The notice says that had not started yet.
What drivers and operators would face
The report asks members to consider, before the consultation, removing the acquired rights of vehicles licensed before 26 July 2022, and setting a maximum licensing age of 18 years for zero-emission vehicles. Petrol and diesel vehicles would have a shorter life in the trade. The move to hybrid and zero-emission vehicles is described as incremental, towards 2040. The maximum CO₂ limit would go, and the ultra-low emission category would be replaced by one covering mild, full and plug-in hybrids. The report
Every new and renewal private hire operator application would face financial checks beyond the HMRC tax check. The draft says the council may ask for evidence of solvency, credit history and public liability insurance. Officers say the checks are meant to show an operator can meet passenger-transport contracts, and to look for money-laundering and organised-crime risks.
Vehicle testing is also in the consultation. Officers want to look at replacing the certificate of compliance with a DVSA MOT, keeping Aragon as the priority garage, and possibly appointing a limited number of other DVSA centres. The rule that a critical mechanical failure must be repaired within one month would go, because parts are not available in that time. The part 1 and part 2 notices inside licensed vehicles would also go. They could not be produced. Vehicles would still have to show internal and external signs, with a £100 fixed penalty for failing to do so.
The council does not currently require CCTV. The draft says that will be reviewed if the law or national standards change.
Why it is being rewritten
The report ties the rewrite to the Department for Transport’s 2020 statutory standards and to Baroness Casey’s review of group-based child sexual exploitation. It says the government has accepted her recommendations, including national minimum standards, action on out-of-area working, and a national licensing database. The Casey review
Safeguarding is written through the draft, including journeys for children, young people and adults at risk. After the month of consultation, the replies come back to the Licensing Committee and then to full council.