Taxis and Private Hire


Taxis and private hire vehicles are a crucial part of our transport network. They support the night-time economy and provide an important service, particularly for people without access to a car, or who are unable to use public transport. It is important that they offer a safe, high-quality experience for everyone.

There are two types of licensed vehicle:

  • Taxis or hackney carriages which can be hailed on the street or picked up at authorised taxi ranks; and
  • Private hire vehicles which can only pick up passengers through pre-arranged bookings through an Operator, either by phone, online, or via an app.

Each of the ten Greater Manchester authorities are a licensing authority and issue both hackney carriage and private hire licences.

For information on the current standards and policies your council has in place for both hackney carriage and private hire licences, please click on the relevant council link at the end of this page.

Out-of-area private hire services

You may have noticed that some private hire vehicles picking up passengers in Greater Manchester have licence plates and stickers from other council areas.

Current legislation means that private hire drivers and vehicles licensed in other areas can operate in Greater Manchester.

There are no national standards for private hire drivers, vehicles and operators or inspection of the licensing authorities that issue these licences. That means Councils within Greater Manchester can only guarantee the vehicle safety and driver checks of their own licence holders.

When you book a journey through a private hire operator – through an app, online booking system or over the phone – you can ask for a driver and vehicle licensed by your local council or another council of your choice.

If you have a problem with a private hire vehicle, you should report it to the council it is licensed with. A council’s private hire policies can usually be found on its web pages.

The government has recognised there are concerns surrounding out-of-area operations by private hire vehicles in its English Devolution White Paper (external website). They are exploring ways to address these issues and are considering making all local transport authorities responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing. This would be similar to the system in London and would make standards more consistent. Check back for updates following the government consultation and next steps.

Greater Manchester Minimum Licensing Standards

We want all drivers and vehicles licensed in Greater Manchester to offer the same safe, high-quality experience for everyone, every time. That includes vehicles that meet high environmental standards.

That’s why Greater Manchester’s ten local councils, supported by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), developed a proposed set of common, minimum standards taxis drivers, vehicles and operators licensed in Greater Manchester.

The proposed Minimum Licensing Standards focus on four areas:

Drivers

  • Frequent criminal record checks
  • Medical examinations
  • Local area knowledge tests
  • English language proficiency
  • Driver training (including on safeguarding and disability awareness)
  • Driving proficiency
  • Dress code

Vehicles

  • Vehicle emissions
  • Vehicle age
  • Vehicle colour
  • Vehicle livery (signage and stickers)
  • Accessibility requirements
  • Vehicle testing
  • CCTV
  • Specific standards for executive hire
  • Miscellaneous vehicle design requirements

Operators

  • Basic criminal record checks for all private hire operators and staff
  • A common set of licence conditions
  • More stringent booking records requirements

Local authorities

  • Ability for drivers and operators to submit licence applications up to eight weeks in advance of licence expiry
  • When approved, licence to be issued within five working days
  • Common enforcement approach and framework to which licensing fees are set
  • Training for councillors reviewing licence applications

Following a consultation on these proposals and work with the taxi and private hire trade, Greater Manchester agreed a final set of minimum licensing standards.

The ten Greater Manchester councils were in the process of individually approving and integrating the standards into their existing policies when the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan and linked Clean Taxi Fund grants were paused in February 2022. 

This led to some local authorities pausing approval for some of the proposed Minimum Licensing Standards relating to vehicle standards.

The government has now approved Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Plan.

Dedicated Be.EV taxi charging points 

We’ve introduced 60 new rapid charging points for electric taxis. We chose the locations across Greater Manchester following feedback from the trade.

The charging points are now available to use as part of the Be.EV charging network. To see locations and register to use them, both hackney carriage and private hire drivers should visit the Be.EV Taxi scheme webpage (external website).

Greater Manchester local authority taxi webpages

For information Greater Manchester councils’ current taxi and private hire licensing standards and policies, please visit: