City Council invites views on its taxi and private hire policies

25 January 2021

A public consultation on a review of all taxi and private hire policies and proposed policy changes has been opened by Aberdeen City Council following its approval by the Licensing Committee.

The Council’s Licensing officers have undertaken a comprehensive review of all taxi and private hire policies and conditions and the proposed changes to current policy or practices in the consultation include:

granting vehicle licences every three years in line with other Civic Government (Scotland) Act;having one licensed area instead of the current two zones – City and Airport;introducing a dress code for taxi and private hire car drivers;considerations for transition to alternative powered vehicles.

Committee convener, Councillor John Reynolds said: “I would strongly encourage the local Taxi Trade and all interested parties to take part in the consultation as many of our Licensing policies date back several years and this is an opportunity to update some areas to reflect the current operational practices and to ensure that all policies are fit for purpose.”

Licensing officers are also aiming to consolidate all the information held on policies and conditions into one easily accessible document. which would be beneficial to the trade, stakeholders such as the Taxi and Private Hire Consultation Group and customers.

For full details of the proposed changes to policy and to take part in the consultation, please visit https://consultation.aberdeencity.gov.uk/corporate-governance/taxi-policy-consultation

The consultation closes on Friday 26 February 2021.

Following the consultation officers will present a report to the Licensing Committee on Tuesday 16 March 2021.