South Cambridgeshire District Council took the decision to carry out the extra consultation after additional feedback on the proposed policy was submitted on Wednesday, the day before a Council meeting was set to make a final decision.
At the Council meeting, Councillors voted to begin an extra consultation before Christmas to give another chance to gather feedback.
The proposed taxi licensing policy would have seen CCTV as standard in all Hackney and Private Hire vehicles by the end of 2020. It also suggested that all new vehicles would be low or ultra-low emission vehicles by October 2028 – meaning they will be hybrid or electric vehicles.
Council officers have said that the consultation already completed was extensive with over 50 pieces of feedback from drivers, the taxi industry and people who use taxis. Over 150 drivers also attended workshops to gather their views.
Mike Hill, Director of Health and Environmental Services at South Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “We are a listening Council and our aim is to always try and get as many people as possible to get involved in consultations. This means their views can be taken on board. We’ve done more than ever before to make sure this was the case on the proposed changes to this taxi licensing policy and have been really pleased by the level of engagement we have had. However, we had more people get in touch with us the evening before Councillors were due to make a final decision and it is only right that we take the time to properly consider their views along with all the others. Getting the policy right is the most important thing and we will launch another consultation before Christmas to gather final feedback before making a decision.”
To support the transition electric and hybrid taxis, South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council have secured joint Government funding to establish new electric car charging points across the area for exclusive use by taxis.