Concern over lack of wheelchair-accessible Calderdale taxis

Councillors heard the statistic at a meeting of full Calderdale Council where concerns were raised about the barriers some residents face accessing taxis.

Responding to a public question, Calderdale Council’s cabinet member for Public Services, Coun Peter Hunt, said the council’s approach to the vehicle licensing provided some incentive to those registering wheelchair accessible vehicles.

This enabled vehicles to be licensed up to 14 years instead of 12 as standard private hire and taxi vehicles.

In addition, to obtain a hackney carriage licence through the authority, except for those previously licensed with “grandfather” rights, vehicles must be wheelchair accessible, he said,

Coun Hunt (Reform UK, Elland) said the policy also offers another incentive by allowing older vehicles to be re-licensed at eight rather than six years.

Coun Margot Puddepha raised related issues later in the evening, in light of Calderdale Council’s website stating that all hackney carriages are accessible to passengers who use wheelchairs.

“Reports from local wheelchair users confirm that not all vehicles are wheelchair accessible,” she said.

Coun Puddepha (Green, Hebden Bridge and Todmorden East) asked Coun Hunt to confirm whether all hackney carriages are wheelchair accessible and how many were actively operating, and what the stats were for private hire vehicles.

Coun Hunt confirmed that of 43 hackney carriages, 34 were wheelchair-accessible, but of another 15 “executive” vehicles, none were.

And of Calderdale’s 1,132 private hire vehicles, only two are wheelchair-accessible, he said.

Coun Hunt said that from the end of 2024, in line with updated licensing policy, in order to be licensed as a hackney carriage the vehicle is required to be wheelchair-accessible.

The change in the policy also means that the small number of vehicles with “grandfather” rights will now naturally expire with the vehicle – previously a licence was just transferred to the new vehicle.

Licensing of hackney carriages and private hire vehicles is regulated by two acts of Parliament but as part of widescale reform the current Government has committed to making changes, said Coun Hunt.

These would allow the hackney carriage and private hire sectors to deliver more accessible services by strengthening existing protections and removing barriers to travel.

Coun Hunt said the draft text of the bill had yet to be published but in June “Raising the standard of licensing of taxis and private hire vehicles” was published, outlining the draft policy proposals setting out the Government’s intent.