Taxi protests OFF as senior Cardiff officials agree to work towards ‘Cross Border’ resolution

Cardiff’s taxi and private hire drivers took to the streets last week to demand action outside the County Hall in Cardiff.

Unite the Union called the action and detailed a plethora of issues facing the industry in Cardiff. Problems around the controversial ‘cross-border’ hiring rules and the high costs involved in moving to greener taxis featured highly as concerns.

Senior Cardiff Councillors sat down with the industry to discuss details to resolve taxi drivers concerns on Friday 6 December.

As a result, according to the Cardiff Hackney Alliance (CHA), taxi drivers will now work collaboratively with Councillors and Welsh Government to find a short term solution regarding the controversial ‘Cross Border’ hiring issues faced all around England and Wales.

The CHA are due to meet in the Welsh assembly on 8 January with Welsh Transport Minister Ken Skates, as well as the First Minister to discuss issues surrounding Cross Border.

Concerns around the future use of Euro 6 engines have also been eased with the postponement of policies until more research into funding is explored.

A spokesperson for the Cardiff Hackney Alliance added: “Initially, Euro 6 was supposed to go in front of Committee in January and then eventually roll out in October. We have successfully postponed this until further clarification is received from Welsh government as to what funding will be available and how that funding will be spent as well as getting the funding released in the first place.

“This is a good step forward as we will be consulted on how the money will be spent. Furthermore, the £1.8m+ that was proposed will be used to get the 600 vehicles (old fleet) they have on their system to a compliant level. The money can be used to purchase second hand vehicles too. Councillors requested that Unite Union collaborates with Welsh government to request more funding.

“It was agreed that the Fitness Criteria will be reviewed in Q1 around February 2020 if Newport Council do not implement it by then, that way it doesn’t put us in a disadvantaged position. So far 15 local Authorities have implemented this policy around Wales and soon all local authorities will would introduce it very soon. We will keep a close eye on this to see what Newport council does.

“Darkened glass: This will be put back into committee very soon, perhaps by January or February, we will be notified about how quickly they can push this through committee.”