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Our Campaign to End North Yorkshire’s Accessible Taxi Crisis

26/08/2025

Disability Action Yorkshire (DAY) and the North Yorkshire Disability Forum’s Accessible Transport Group (NYDF ATG) have launched a joint campaign, issuing a powerful call for intervention from the Mayor of York & North Yorkshire, David Skaith, to address North Yorkshire Council’s (NYC) repeated failure to resolve a critical shortage of wheelchair-accessible taxis.

The crisis, which has been escalating for over two decades, is severely restricting the lives of disabled North Yorkshire residents, leaving them isolated and unable to travel for work, medical appointments, and social events.

Failure to Act Despite Overwhelming Evidence

The issue is one of basic rights and systemic failure, according to DAY Chief Executive, Jackie Snape.

“Accessible transport is not a luxury — it is a fundamental right and a cornerstone of independent living,” said Ms. Snape. “The shortage of wheelchair-accessible taxis severely limits disabled people’s ability to reach work, healthcare, education, and social opportunities, contributing significantly to transport-related isolation.”

The campaign, jointly led by DAY and Ian Lawson, Chair of the NYDF ATG and a wheelchair user, highlights that the situation worsened with the formation of the new North Yorkshire Council.

Mr. Lawson stated in a formal communication to Mayor Skaith: “On the first day that NYC came into being they enacted a new Taxi & Private Hire Licensing Policy that resulted in an increase of 144 more saloon taxis but not one more wheelchair taxi.”

This inaction flies in the face of compelling evidence, including:

  • NYC’s Own Commissioned Research (Temple Group, 2023): Confirmed an urgent and unmet need for more accessible taxis across the region.
  • NYC’s Inclusive Service Plan: Explicitly stated that 200 more wheelchair-accessible taxis are required.
  • National Guidance (House of Commons Transport Committee, 2024): The ‘Access Denied’ report called on regulators to “change their mindset” to end the discrimination disabled people experience.

Calling for Support from Mayor Skaith

Disability Action Yorkshire and the NYDF ATG are urging Mayor Skaith to use his leadership and influence within the new Combined Authority to address this failure and ensure accessibility is prioritised.

“It is time now that the taxi trade and the regulator, North Yorkshire Council, stopped treating disabled people as second class citizens,” Mr. Lawson powerfully concluded.

The joint campaign is formally requesting that the Mayor uses his office to:

  1. Demand Publication: Urge North Yorkshire Council to publish without further delay the report following its Licensing Policy consultation, which closed in April 2025.
  2. Enforce Action: Encourage NYC to take immediate and measurable action to increase the number of licensed wheelchair-accessible taxis across all districts.
  3. Embed Priority: Ensure that the forthcoming Strategic and Local Transport Plans embed accessibility as a core priority – not an afterthought – for all residents.

Disability Action Yorkshire has offered to meet with the Mayor’s office alongside Mr. Lawson to work collaboratively toward a truly accessible transport system that ensures disabled people enjoy the same freedom and independence in travel as everyone else.