WEST Berkshire Council “can’t do much” about helping taxi drivers switch to electric vehicles or ultra-low emission vehicles, a councillor has claimed.

Financial incentives and subsidies were being discussed by councillors for taxi drivers, to help reduce carbon emissions in West Berkshire.

Councillor Tony Linden (Con, Tilehurst Birch Copse) said: “We can’t do much as a small unitary authority.

“Maybe it’s something we could speak to the Local Government Association about. It could be something encouraged on a national basis.”

The idea was being debated at a meeting of the licensing committee on January 27. 

Cllr David Marsh (Green, Wash Common) said: “I have spoken in the last few days to a number of drivers and they are very enthusiastic about this. Why wouldn’t they be?

“Would it be possible to offer operators a discounted licence: you get £100 back if you’ve got ULEVs or something on those lines.”

A new fee structure is being designed for taxis applying for licences from the council. Cllr Marsh suggested that as part of the new structure, subsidies could be introduced.

He said: “We are missing an opportunity because if somebody renews a five-year licence next week, that then takes us to 2025, which is halfway to 2030 — when we’ve just published an environment strategy, which intends to get to zero carbon emissions by then.”

But he was told the incentives were a separate issue to the new licence fee structure. 

Cllr Graham Bridgman (Con, Burghfield & Mortimer) said: “What we are seeking to get to here is a fee structure which is a cost recovery structure. Cost recovery is very little to do with what the vehicle is; it’s the paperwork exercise of giving operators the licences.

“I understand the imperative of moving to electric vehicles … but that’s a completely different question to the one we are addressing at the moment. We are in danger of bringing two different issues into play.”

How large the incentives would have to be was another issue debated by councillors. 

Cllr Adrian Abbs (Lib Dem, Wash Common) said: “If you look at what Sadiq Khan has had to do in London with the amount of subsidies on offer to encourage the uptake, it’s in the tens of thousands. 

“We have to have the right size of incentive to get them to move, and that’s in the thousands, not in the tens of pounds. But I would love to ask the question, how do we help you move?”

Taxi drivers will be asked in a separate, upcoming meeting about their views on subsidies to switch to ULEVs and electric vehicles, according to Cllr James Cole (Con, Hungerford & Kintbury). 

In Reading, all hackney carriages must be hybrid or electric by 2028, after the borough council there introduced a policy in October last year.