PICTURES: Angry taxi drivers take to Northampton town centre to protest against council's controversial new rules

Around 100 angry taxi drivers protested in Northampton town centre this morning against a controversial new set of taxi and private hire rules drafted by the council.

The App Drivers and Couriers Union (ACDU) has criticised WNC’s Draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy 2023, which is set to be voted on tonight by West Northants Council.

The ACDU has strongly condemned what they describe as "reactionary, racist, and regressive" regulations.

WNC said it will be issuing a statement following the meeting tonight.

In a last ditch attempt to get the council to listen, taxi drivers who are members of the ACDU met at Victoria Car Park at 11am and marched down the Drapery and protested at the steps of The Guildhall today.

Many held signs saying, ‘Shame on West Northamptonshire Council’, ‘Stop Discriminatory Policies for Drivers’, and ‘Stop Racist Policies’.

The ACDU say that despite months of consultations and multiple in-person meetings, the council has ignored the substantial feedback provided by the ACDU and drivers.

The union’s chief concerns with the policy are as follows:

• Demands by the council that licensed drivers must secure a ‘certificate of good conduct’ from every country they may have lived for more than 90 days since the age of 18.

• An arbitrary penalty points system that turns risk and compliance management into a numbers game but does nothing to raise standards.

• A harsh convictions policy. Drivers convicted for holding a mobile phone, a DVLA 6-point offence, can now lose their private hire license for five years.

• The council warns they will monitor the activity of licensed drivers on social media in their private time and consider this in licensing decisions. This is an Article 8 human rights violation in that licensees are guaranteed the right to a private life.

• The council is demanding higher standards from private hire drivers than the elected councillors demand of themselves in their own code of conduct.

• The council has failed to conduct a proper equalities impact assessment.

Shafqat Shah, Chair of ACDU Northampton said: "I am bitterly disappointed that the council has chosen to disregard the considered feedback of our union’s members working in the Northampton area trade. The council seem determined to miss a golden opportunity to introduce regulations that could raise service standards, improve safety and raise the living standards of local licensees long exploited in the trade. Instead, the council has indulged in populism to dream up an elaborately punitive and racist policy that will ultimately fail to deliver on its objectives for the public while rewarding big business.”

Speaking to Chron and Echo, Mr Shah added: “A lot of drivers are worried about this. There will be so many chances where a driver could lose his licence. We have a system in Northampton at the moment… it may need a bit of tweaking but we can do that together. We are very important.

"The council wants us to sell Northampton… they want us to be ambassadors for the town. We’re not going to be ambassadors at this rate if we’re going to be worried about losing our licences.

"Licensing are doing things on their own and not consulting us.”

Mr Shah hinted that there could be strikes in the near future depending upon the result tonight.