The Licensing Committee for Elmbridge Council met on 22 September 2025, with the primary focus on reviewing the council's Taxi & Private Hire Licensing Policy. The committee was also scheduled to confirm the minutes from meetings held on 21 May and 23 June 2025. Councillor Neil Houston, Chair of the Licensing Committee, was scheduled to lead the meeting.

Taxi & Private Hire Licensing Policy

The main item for consideration was the review of the council's taxi and private hire licensing policy. Alia Knights, Principal Licensing Officer, prepared a report that provided an update to the members of the committee following a consultation on the reviewed policy. The report asked the Licensing Committee to consider the responses to the consultation and some minor amendments which had been made to the draft. The report also asked the Committee to recommend that the Council approves the draft, revised policy at Appendix 1 - Taxi PH Policy V2.0 2025-2030 post consult FINAL for adoption.

The report pack included a recommendation that the committee recommends to the council:

• adoption of the revised taxi and private hire licensing policy at Appendix 1, to take effect on 01 January 2026
• that in accordance with paragraph 1.15 of the revised policy at Appendix 1, minor amendments to the policy may be made as necessary during the policy lifecycle, with the agreement of the Chair of the Licensing Committee and the Environmental Health and Licensing Manager.

The report noted that the council's current taxi and private hire licensing policy was adopted in July 2020, and that one minor amendment was made in March 2025. The policy sets out the council's general approach to carrying out its licensing functions in respect of taxi and private hire licensing, its expectations of applicants and licence holders, and aims to provide for consistency in decision making.

In November 2023, the Department for Transport (DfT) published revised Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing Best Practice Guidance for Licensing Authorities in England. The guidance covers a range of matters which the DfT consider have either caused issues in the past or that are of particular significance. The DfT guidance is heavily focused on removing barriers for passengers with accessibility needs and ensuring all taxi and private hire drivers are adequately trained in their responsibilities under the Equalities Act 2010. The guidance sets out that in the short term, licensing authorities should look to mitigate the harm from internal combustion engines through the setting of high Euro emissions standards such as Euro 6¹. In the longer term, the licensed trade will need to be prepared for a move to zero transmission vehicles.

The committee approved a draft, revised taxi and private hire policy for public consultation for a period of 8 weeks. The consultation took place between 01 July and 31 August 2025 and was made available to all members of the public and stakeholders on the council's website via Commonplace, a digital engagement platform. A news release was published on the Council's website on 07 July 2025, and it was advertised on all major social media channels or business networking sites (inc. Facebook, Instagram and Nextdoor). Officers also contacted the following stakeholders by writing to them directly to alert them to the live consultation:

• Taxi and private hire drivers, operators and vehicle licence holders
• Surrey County Council Highways
• Surrey Police
• Surrey district and borough licensing authorities
• EBC Environmental Health Officer – air quality

Through the council's Community Partnerships Officer, the following support groups were also contacted for their views:

• Walsingham Care for the elderly
• CHEER for the elderly
• Elmbridge CAN for displaced people
• Elmbridge Women's Hub for vulnerable women
• Central Surrey Voluntary action general
• Spurgeons for children
• ECL for persons with disabilities
• Walton Charity general
• Rentstart for Homeless persons

The consultation survey was comprised of 14 questions focusing on key changes with an opportunity at the end of the survey for respondents to add any additional comments on any other minor amendments. Explanatory text and background information was provided ahead of each question. Respondents were asked to indicate how they felt towards each proposal e.g. positive, neutral or negative.

A total of 79 responses were received to the consultation, the majority of which were either positive or neutral. The responses are set out in the attached document, Appendix 2 - Consultation response statement FINAL, along with details of the respondent types. The number of taxi and private hire drivers responding to the consultation was 54, representing 21% of the current 258 licence holders. No responses were received from private hire operators or vehicle licence holders (although many vehicle licence holders will also be licensed drivers and/or operators also).

The report noted that it was evident from the taxi and private hire driver responses that several new proposals within the draft policy had been misunderstood. For example, a number took the view that disability awareness training should only apply to new taxi or private hire drivers or those who drive wheelchair accessible vehicles. There was a lack of appreciation that disability considerations extend beyond wheelchair accessibility. It is suggested this further evidences the need for training to be implemented for existing licence holders, as well as for new drivers, to enable them to meet their legal duty under the Equalities Act 2010. There were a significant number of comments relating to the proposal for changes to the medical process for licensed drivers considering this too be too strict. However, the proposals are in fact a relaxation of current requirements. In addition, there were some responses relating to Euro 6 and hybrid vehicle requirements which will come into effect in January 2026. As these requirements are contained in existing policy these particular responses are not relevant to the proposals for the 2025-30 policy. Following the close of the consultation, officers propose to send a post consultation advisory bulletin to existing taxi and private hire licence holders which will address responses that relate to existing policy and not the proposed new draft.

Officers have carefully considered the consultation responses and recommend that all proposals as set out in the draft policy 2025 – 2030 are adopted, with some subject to appropriate amendments. Key post consultation amendments are explained at paras 3.4 and 3.5 below and are also shown as tracked changes within the attached, copy draft policy at Appendix 3 - Taxi PH Policy V2.0 2025-2030 post consult revised draft. Some insertions or minor amendments have also been made to the draft policy at Appendix 3 to correct typos and/or omissions within the original draft. Appendix 4 - Taxi PH Policy - summary of changes post consult summarises the changes post consultation along with their potential impact.

The report pack noted two key post consultation amendments:

• Electronic payment facilities: Whilst there was support for the requirement for taxi drivers to provide facilities for electronic payments, a number of respondents mentioned that this facility can be made available securely through app-based software on a mobile device (such as a smartphone) without the need for a separate and more costly electronic payment terminal. Accordingly, the draft policy requirement has been amended to allow for any electronic device offering secure payment facilities, not just dedicated terminals.
• Temporary replacement vehicles – Euro 6 standard: The draft policy had proposed removing the ability to licence a temporary vehicle which did not meet current Euro emissions standard (Euro 6). A number of taxi and private hire drivers expressed concern about an inability to hire a vehicle that meets the current Euro standards at short notice e.g. where their permanent vehicle has been in a motoring accident or similar. One respondent pointed out that unlike car rental companies, insurance providers do not always have access to vehicles at the latest Euro standard. In response, because the draft policy also proposes to limit the use of licensed temporary vehicles to a maximum of 3 months, the proposal has been relaxed to permit vehicles at Euro 4 petrol or hybrid and above to be licensed on a temporary basis.

The report pack also included an Equality impact assessment form.

The report noted that the proposed changes within the policy aim to maintain improvements to the environment and air quality in the borough and surrounding areas by continuing the policy to phase out the use of higher emission diesel and petrol-fuelled vehicles.

The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 does not place a legal duty on the Council to adopt a taxi and private hire licensing policy. However, the government's Statutory Taxi & Private Hire Vehicle Standards 2022 recommend that all licensing authorities make available a cohesive policy document.