A Calderdale taxi’s handbrake was found to be completely non-functional just weeks after the vehicle had passed an MOT at a private garage, councillors have heard, as the local authority set out why it continues to resist calls to let private garages carry out mandatory taxi testing.
The case emerged during a questions-to-Cabinet session, where Halifax councillor Mohammed Shazad Fazal pressed the administration on a string of issues affecting local drivers. Cllr Fazal, who represents the Park ward, said his constituency is one of Calderdale’s most deprived areas and that many residents depend heavily on the taxi trade for both transport and livelihoods.
He asked whether the council would commit to introducing approved private garages for taxi MOTs, including a facility in Halifax, cut the delay between MOT completion and licence issue (currently up to ten days, with same-day licensing as the eventual goal), and open the council’s Battinson Road transport services centre for two days a week rather than the current arrangement. He also called for the Customer First service at the same site to be available three days a week.
“These changes would reduce delays, support drivers’ incomes and strengthen a vital local service,” Cllr Fazal told the meeting.
Responding, Cllr Peter Hunt, Cabinet member for Public Services, explained that certification of compliance testing by private garages had already been considered and turned down by licensing councillors on previous occasions, and that cost and consistency remained the key sticking points — not least because the council would still carry ultimate legal liability for any private testing regime.
He then cited a case that underlined the council’s caution: through its transport team, Calderdale has reported several MOT-certified garages to the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) after taxis and private hire vehicles that had recently passed an MOT went on to fail the council’s own compliance test on the same points. In one instance, a taxi’s handbrake was found not to be working at all — just a couple of weeks after it had passed an MOT at a private garage. Cllr Hunt said the arrangement means the council can be assured “vehicles which pass the test are fit and proper to transport fare-paying customers.”
On the practical concerns, Cllr Hunt said compliance testing appointments are currently available within the same week or the week after an application is made, and that licences are typically issued the next day the licensing counter is open once legal checks are complete. All licence holders receive automatic email reminders two to four months ahead of renewal, giving time to arrange compliance testing and medical checks. He added that Battinson Road’s vehicle testing facility, licensing service and Customer First desk already operate five days a week, with face-to-face licensing counter services increasing to three half-days.
The case is a reminder of why compliance testing exists as a backstop, even for vehicles that already carry a valid MOT — a defective handbrake is about as serious a fail as it gets, and one that could easily have gone unnoticed until it mattered on the road. For drivers, it’s also a useful steer on what the council is and isn’t likely to change in the near term: expect the current testing model to stay in place, but some movement on turnaround times and access at Battinson Road.
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