A Ripon cabbie has said new rules governing local taxi drivers will be a “disaster” for drivers and people relying on the service in rural areas.

North Yorkshire County Council is next week expected to introduce a single hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy from the spring.

The existing seven district councils, including Harrogate, currently have their own hackney carriage and private hire licensing policies.

But their looming abolition on April 1 prompted councillors to run a consultation between October 25 and January 16 on a new policy that would harmonise the rules across North Yorkshire.

Fifty-two per cent of respondents disagreed with the key proposal of introducing a single zone for North Yorkshire, which would allow cabbies to operate across the county rather than only in their districts. However, the idea still looks set to go ahead.

Richard Fieldman, who owns Ripon firm A1 Cars and runs a Facebook group that includes 52 taxi drivers in Ripon and Harrogate, said:

“Making it one zone will mean that at peak times drivers will target hotspots, such as Harrogate on a Saturday night, and leave rural areas with no taxis. It’s common sense that people will drive to maximise their earning potential.

“It will be a disaster for us and a disaster for people who live in quieter areas because they won’t be able to get a taxi at busy times.

“The same policy has been tried in other areas and it just leads to some streets being swamped with taxis so it’s bad for other road users as well.”

Mr Fieldman also criticised the council’s proposal to end the current restrictions on the number of hackney carriages — even though 45% of consultees opposed this. The Harrogate district limit is currently 148.

He said this would encourage private hire taxi drivers to switch to hackney carriages to avoid their £132 a year operator’s licence, which would “flood the limited space there is already”.

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Mr Fieldman also hit out at draft new rules that would mean hackney carriage licence holders have to get three MOTs a year on cars that are more than seven years old. Currently vehicles up between five and nine-years-old have to have two MOTs a year.

A council spokesman said the new policy incorporated Department for Transport’s taxi and private hire vehicle best practice guidance and allowed the market to determine the level of supply.

He added:

“Despite a fear from the trade of ‘hotspot’ areas, evidence from other authorities that have followed a similar approach has indicated that any negative impacts tend to level out over time.”

Cllr Carl Les

The Conservative leader of North Yorkshire County Council, Cllr Carl Les, said:

“The hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy for North Yorkshire plays an integral part in demonstrating the new council’s commitment to ensuring that the public is provided with safe and accessible hackney carriages and private hire vehicles.

“As a single local authority for North Yorkshire, it also ensures hackney carriage and private hire licence holders and taxi operators across the county are treated equally.

If approved by the county council’s executive next week, the new policy will be adopted from April 1, along with a single set of licensing fees for both hackney carriage and private hire vehicles and a maximum set of fares for hackney carriages.

A Ripon taxi driver has said plans for a single licensing policy for North Yorkshire will lead to “chaos”.

Under proposals just put forward, the new North Yorkshire Council would create a single licensing policy for hackney carriages and private hire vehicles in the entire county.

It would mean drivers in Harrogate could operate anywhere in North Yorkshire whereas they are currently restricted to the Harrogate district.

Richard Fieldman, who has operated his cab in Ripon for 28 years, said the planned changes would see drivers “swamp” areas during the busiest times of day.

Mr Fieldman said the move would see quieter areas deprived of taxis during the busier times.

He said:

“It will mean that any taxi can work in any area.

“You are going to have swamps of taxis in busy areas at busy times. That in itself brings chaos.”

Mr Fieldman added that he feared the council could introduce a single fare rate for the county, which he said would make business “unviable” for drivers.

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The Stray Ferret has approached North Yorkshire County Council for comment.

County council officials said the planned policy would offer drivers “flexibility to operate across the county”.

The authority has launched a public consultation on the changes, which is set to last for 12 weeks.

A review of fare rates across the county will be carried out at a later date.

The council said in a statement:

“In accordance with the Department for Transport’s best practice guidance, it is proposed that the new council will operate one hackney carriage ‘zone’ for North Yorkshire.

“Thereby providing drivers with the flexibility to operate across the county, encouraging environmental efficiencies and creating a wider distribution of wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

“There are no plans to impose hackney carriage quantity restrictions on the creation of a new single zone. Hackney carriage fares and fees will also be reviewed at a later date.”

A consultation into the policy changes is open until January 19, 2023. You can have your say here.