Category: Licensing Conditions

Cornwall Council are proposing to remove the six ‘taxi zones’ in Cornwall.

They present the issue as “legacy legislation”, claiming that removing the zones will “make things simpler for passengers”, “improve taxi availability and choice”, and “create a fairer and more efficient system.”
Or at least, that’s how it’s being sold.

What the Council hasn’t done is explain how this will actually work — especially for Cornwall’s rural communities.
The consultation materials are thin on evidence, light on detail, and avoid any discussion of the real impacts on taxi availability, pricing, and rural service levels.
They rely solely on Department for Transport national guidance — written for cities and general use, not for Cornwall’s unique geography and transport challenges.

The truth is, this may simplify things for council officers, but it will be catastrophic for the rural residents who make up 65% of Cornwall — that’s the hard reality.

They intend to push this proposal through on the basis of minimal information and misleading optimism, whilst hiding behind ‘official guidance’ and ‘best practice’ rather than honest debate, or any concern about its real-world consequences on the residents of Cornwall.

To give meaningful feedback to the Council’s consultation, operators, councillors, and residents first need clear answers to the real questions. These questions were put to officers on 06/10/2025, with a request for a full response by 20/10/2025. I’ll share the response when we have it:

See the questions here

❗Is Cornwall Council quietly dismantling our taxi system — without saying so?

Cornwall Council is pursuing a unified Hackney Carriage tariff across all six zones. They say it’s just about fares — but the truth is:

• Tariff harmonisation only makes sense if zoning is going to be scrapped.
• But they have yet to declare that is their intention, and there’s been NO open discussion. NO proper consultation. NO honesty.

⚠️ IS THIS IS DE-ZONING THROUGH THE BACK DOOR?

They’re not saying it outright — but by changing fares now, they’re removing the foundation of the zoned system without a vote, without input, and without consent.

Is this reform – or is it restructuring by stealth?

❌ WHAT HAPPENS IF DE-ZONING GOES AHEAD?

• Drivers flood into our town, chasing high-demand jobs – stealing your work – especially at night.
• Rural areas are further abandoned — no drivers, no coverage.
• Your Earnings cut in half? — taken by opportunists from other areas.
• No Rank Space — Already swamped Ranks, further swamped by operators who have dropped in for the evening.
• You think it’s bad now?

Any operator who drops people in the town, can now lawfully stay and work until the return pickup time – taking your work!

URGENT! – CLICK HERE NOW

🛑 THIS IS A WARNING TO THE TRADE IN NEWQUAY

Do we want Cornwall Council to:

• Change tariffs without a public conversation about zoning.
• Pretend this isn’t part of a bigger agenda.
• Push policy quietly through the back door.

📣 ASK YOURSELF — AND EACH OTHER:

Do YOU want the de-zoning of Cornwall’s taxi system? How will that affect your business? Should the Council be allowed to dismantle zones without a formal consultation?

URGENT! – CLICK HERE NOW

The Broken Shape of the Local Taxi service in Cornwall.

Cornwall council, have a duty of care to their constituents, and by default that includes ensuring a viable, well run local taxi service that can provide vital services for all, regardless of location. Not one that is constantly having to break the law.

The solution is simple, it has been provided to them. It is within their power and discretion to implement this solution, they just have to do it, but read more…

One of the matters raised by the Compliance Officer at the Taxi Trade meeting with the Licensing Chairman and other Councillors & Officers on Monday 2^nd December 2023, was the issue of Hackney Carriages being used for pre-booked set price journeys.

Firstly, that drivers were not engaging taxi meters, and secondly, that as a result, the customer might be charged more than the table of fares permits. That is, even though at the point of pre-booking, the price has been agreed with the customer for the whole journey (which basic business economics dictates is based on the actual whole mileage, most especially when the vehicle has to travel a reasonable distance to perform a journey that only constitutes a small portion of the total journey mileage), that the meter should be engaged at the commencement of the passenger’s journey, and cease at the passenger’s destination with only the meter fare being chargeable.

In consideration of the fact that, as a result of the Council’s decision to remove numerical limits for Hackney Carriages in Restormel, Carrick & Penwith, the significant majority of the licensed vehicles in Cornwall are now Hackney Carriages, if this matter were truly enforced to the full letter of the law, we would see a vast number of journeys being refused by Hackney Carriage operators, due to it being financially unviable to take on such work, and leaving a lot of people in more rural areas cut off from using such taxi services all together, as service would be refused.

As a direct result of the removal of the numerical limit in Restormel, Hackney Carriage numbers have pretty much doubled, flooding & over supplying Taxi Ranks and sending incomes from Taxi Ranks plummeting by 30% or more for operators/drivers, forcing Hackneys to be much more dependant on advanced bookings/private hire style work.

As we live and work in a very rural region of the country, we really do need to address this very serious issue with a practical, common sense & fair approach for all.

When a customer requests a pre-booked journey from Watergate Bay to Mawgan Porth, the actual chargeable mileage by Meter is 2.2 miles.

However, the initial journey to pickup the passenger is 3.1 miles (Cliff Rd Rank to Watergate), plus the journey back to base being 5.3 miles (Mawgan Porth to Cliff Rd Rank), equalling a total dead mileage of 8.4 miles for a 2.2 mile journey.

So that’s a total round trip of 10.6 miles with only 2.2 miles chargeable. Its common sense that every mile has a value and cost implication which cannot be ignored.

If you did a 2.2 mile journey from the Rank, you then have 2.2 dead miles to return to the Rank, which is factored into the Taxi Meter charges. Therefore, if you took the total trip mileage of 10.6 calculated above, and deducted 4.4 miles (2.2 chargeable + equal dead miles), then you have a remaining loss of 6.1 miles.

If we allow the first mile, we are left with 5.1 miles. If we were then able to charge £1.40 per mile (half the mileage rate) for the remaining dead mileage (equivalent to 2.55 miles chargeable and 2.55 dead miles return) then we could charge a call out fee of £7.14, making the total chargeable fare for that journey including the call out fee £15.90.

In comparison, the fare from Cliff Rd Rank to Mawgan Porth is 5.3 chargeable miles and 5.3 dead miles return, giving a total fare of £17.44. So although you are slightly down with the call out charge, I think we reach a fair and comfortable solution for the operator/driver and the customer.

Therefore I would propose an addition to the current Hackney Carriage Table of Fares to allow for call out fees:

Maximum additional rate of charge per mile for call outs over 1 mile: £1.40
(Total mileage less chargeable mileage & equal dead mileage)

It would not be calculated on the meter itself but would legally permit the operator to calculate the total journey mileage, then deduct the chargeable mileage and equal amount of dead mileage, disregard the first mile, and then charge each remaining dead mile at a rate of £1.40 when pricing prebooked journeys that are not from a Taxi Rank and the vehicle has to travel for more than 1 mile before collecting the customer.

This requires no more level of trust between the Council and Hackney Operator than the current system. It just means that the amendment to the Table of Fares legally facilitates a fairer charging system that meets the modern demands of both the Taxi Industry and the customer.

What do you think?