Aylesbury taxi drivers stage protest at Bucks Council

Tuesday, 7 September 2021 13:00

This morning (7/09) over 100 Aylesbury taxi drivers slowed traffic on the roads in the town with a protest drive to the Bucks Council building at Gatehouse.

They are very much against new regulations that were put into place yesterday, (6/09) stating that hackney carriage vehicles (taxis) and private hire vehicles will be able to operate across the entire Buckinghamshire Council area.

On arrival they filled the car park with their taxis and peacefully entered the building, with Police arriving on the scene shortly after the protest started.

Buckinghamshire Council have issued the following statement:

Nick Naylor, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Homelessness and Regulatory Services said: “The new Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Policy that has come into force standardises prices and requirements across the whole county. As part of the process we have consulted widely, including local taxi drivers and firms, regarding these changes. We have listened to their concerns and have done what we can to act on them.

“Many of the changes, including the requirement for drivers to pass an English language test from September 2022, are part of new rules introduced as statutory changes by central government. We are fully supportive of all these new measures which are ultimately designed to improve passenger safety.

“We know that these new requirements will take time for our licence holders to get used to and we will help and advise wherever we can. Not all of the changes will come into effect overnight and we are working very closely with representatives of the taxi trade on the timing and implementation of the new policy areas. We will continue to work closely with licence holders as the transition period unfolds.”