Taxi drivers to hold protest outside Leeds Civic Hall over controversial 'six-points' licence fee policy

Under current council policy, taxi licences are suspended or revoked if drivers exceed 12 penalty points.

In a report published January 2020, Leeds City Council said that move was in the public interest as "the public are entitled to expect high standards of taxi and private hire drivers."

The report continued: "The largest two areas of complaint from the public to the council about taxi and private hire drivers are driver conduct and standard of driving, accounting for more than 500 complaints in 2019, so it is evident that the Leeds public give a priority to driving standards, among other factors."

However, the council has received criticism for the policy.

The report stated: "The council has received criticism for the specific area of the policy relating to licence holders who have accumulated seven points or more.

"This appears to be the main area of concern from current licence holders, some of whom are worried that their licence may not be renewed if they already have seven points or more on their driving licence.

"Other licence holder have expressed concerns that their licence will be revoked ‘automatically’ as soon as they report new points on their licence."

The council will meet with taxi drivers to discuss the issues at a licensing committee today.

The protest has been organised the Leeds Private Hire Drivers Organisation in conjunction with hackney carriage drivers.

It will begin outside Leeds Civic Hall from 9am.