GMCA to roll out grants to help taxi drivers upgrade cars

The Private Hire Vehicle Support Fund, expected to cost nearly £2M, will be available to drivers in Bolton and Greater Manchester to help them replace older cars with new cleaner ones.

This comes after the Greater Manchester Combined Authority decided towards the end of June to replace the previous loan model with an entirely grants-based system.

Bolton South and Walkden MP Yasmin Qureshi said: “After the last Tory government tried to impose a charging Clean Air Zone on Greater Manchester, the GMCA with Andy Burnham as Mayor found another way, by showing an investment led approach focused on lowering emissions with a publicly controlled bus network and supporting our local taxi drivers could achieve better results.

Bolton South and Walkden MP Yasmin Qureshi has welcomed the move (Image: Office of Yasmin Qureshi MP)

“With more zero emission buses now on the road thanks to the Bee Network, the GMCA has approved a grant scheme for private hire drivers registered in Greater Manchester to apply for £2,500 to upgrade their vehicles.

“This supports local drivers and ensures that more drivers are licensed here in Bolton and other local towns where we have stricter oversight.

“This is good for drivers and good for passengers, whilst also showing that investing in our future is a better way of working rather than taxing hard working people for driving as part of their job.”

A report put before the GMCA said that the recommended grant-only scheme would come to an estimated maximum cost of £1.98M across the city region.

This was only slightly more than the previously considered loan and grant scheme, which would have come to an estimated maximum cost of £1.85M.

This was because of the expected cost of revenue-funded administration, bad debt write-off, and other issues.

The report said: “Having considered the risks associated with the loan component, it is recommended that the previously agreed Private Hire Vehicle Support Fund is revised by removing the loan element and moving to a grant-only model, while providing a £2,500 grant per eligible vehicle, being half the previously proposed loan amount.

“The revised grant-only scheme is estimated to cost up to a maximum of £1.98M in total.

“Subject to approval, the updated financial position will be reflected through the relevant budget monitoring reports to the GMCA, alongside updates on scheme take-up and delivery.”

The fund is expected to be officially launched in September this year.