Taxi licensing policy

Salford City Council has now published its revised taxi licensing policy after undertaking extensive consultation with members of the public, business community and the hackney carriage/private hire taxi trade.

The main changes of the policy include:

• Removal of the previous restriction on the number of hackney carriage licences issued by the council
• Increasing the types of vehicle that may be licensed as a hackney carriage
• Introduction of new emission standards for all vehicles
• A requirement for drivers to undertake additional training to improve the standards of customer care offered to the public and enhance the knowledge, skills and professionalism of drivers
• A requirement for enhanced DBS checks for drivers
• Publication of the examination and testing requirements for taxi and private hire vehicles undertaken by the council's vehicle management services (VMS)

The policy can be downloaded below and printed copies of the policy are also available to be viewed at Civic Centre reception and libraries throughout the city. Additionally, copies can be obtained by contacting the council's licensing team.

The Greater Manchester minimum licensing standards

The minimum standards have been developed by the ten Greater Manchester authorities to achieve a single vision for licensed vehicles in future, which support the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan proposals to tackle air pollution across Greater Manchester.

We want to make sure that anyone licensed by the ten Greater Manchester authorities who drives or operates a taxi or private hire vehicle in Greater Manchester meets the same minimum standards.

In addition, we want to support the trade to become fit for purpose for the twenty-first century and contribute to the vision for an integrated transport system. Currently, older licensed vehicles are damaging our environment and action is needed to address this important issue.

You can find the Minimum Licensing Standards (MLS) for Salford below which includes relevant implementation dates. This information will act as an appendices to the existing taxi licensing policy in the short term and these changes will be input into the existing licensing policy document and republished to form one updated policy document for licensees.

This page was last updated on 2 October 2020