A consultation has been launched to review the existing taxi zones across Cumberland.
Since the formation of Cumberland Council, the former taxi licensing zones of Allerdale Borough Council, Carlisle City Council and Copeland Borough Council have been retained.
Each zone continues to licence its own taxis and drivers and operates under the byelaws currently in existence for each former area, resulting in varying rules, tariffs and restricted working areas.
The current system requires drivers and vehicles operating across the whole of Cumberland to obtain two separate licences in each of the three zones.
If a single taxi licensing zone was created, only two licences would be required for the whole of Cumberland – one hackney carriage vehicle licence and a hackney carriage driver’s licence.
A single zone would also enable drivers to have access to all ranks across Cumberland and would provide them with the freedom to work wherever preferred.
Cumberland Council’s Regulatory Committee are carrying out a consultation process, consulting on whether the three existing taxi licensing zones should be retained, or whether they should be replaced with one taxi licensing zone for the whole of Cumberland.
The Council is committed to an inclusive consultation process, seeking views from all stakeholders, including residents, taxi operators, drivers, businesses, users and anyone connected to the taxi trade.
The consultation is open from 28 February 2025 to 22 May 2025.
Once the consultation has concluded, responses will be gathered together and presented to the Regulatory Committee for their consideration.
Cumberland Councillor and Portfolio Holder for Licensing and Regulatory Services, Cllr Bob Kelly, said: “This consultation is an opportunity to have your say on the proposed de-zoning for Cumberland and we want to consider as many views from the public as possible.
“I would encourage anyone with views on this matter to have their say and respond to the consultation with their thoughts.
“We want to receive as many views as possible to identify potential problems and areas of potential disagreement before any changes are made that could cause problems for individuals or the service.
“Those wanting to submit their views should do so via the purpose-built consultation, as responses outside of this will not be presented to the Licensing Authority.
To complete the consultation please click here.