Glasgow cab drivers could be forced off the streets over the next few months, after one of the only companies permitted to make LEZ-compliant upgrades suddenly went bust.

Under the terms of the LEZ scheme, taxi drivers must ensure they meet the Euro 4 emissions standard for petrol vehicles or the Euro 6 emissions standard for diesel and electric vehicles. Operators were originally told that compliance must be met by June 2023, but a number of subsequent exemptions have been granted by Glasgow City Council.

According to the local authority, 225 operators are currently driving under an exemption, which The Herald understands is due to expire in October. 

However, a number of drivers have been left unable to make the necessary changes to their vehicles. Drivers like Brian Connor, a fifty year veteran of the trade, received a grant from the Energy Saving Trust (funded by Transport Scotland) to retrofit their non-compliant vehicles earlier this year. Using the “repowering” method, the vehicle’s diesel engine is replaced by a new liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or petrol engine.

The company employed to carry out the upgrades, Vehicle Repowering Services (VRS), went into liquidation in late July, despite having a “waiting list for conversions.”

According to Transport Scotland, twenty-six taxi operators had “outstanding grant offers” associated with the company. It is unclear if other drivers had also engaged the company to retrofit their vehicles outside the parameters of the grant scheme. 

In a letter to Mr Connor, a representative of the Energy Saving Trust wrote:  “You have been awarded a grant offer for the Low Emission Zone Retrofit Fund based on a quote for the VRS, LPG fuel conversion. Based on the news from VRS, this installation will unfortunately not be able to take place.”

“We are sorry to bring this news to you and understand this is likely concerning and disruptive to your business plans.”

Drivers were encouraged to seek an alternative form of retrofitting known as ‘exhaust abatement’, and had until 24 August to submit updated grant requests.

However, Mr Connor’s taxi, an LTI TX4 black cab, is not eligible for this treatment. He will now have to purchase a compliant vehicle, which he estimates will cost between £36,000 and £48,000, or retire. After receiving a fixed penalty notice for entering the LEZ zone in late July, Connor has stopped driving over fears he could be further penalised. 

In an urgent plea to Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy, Mr Connor, who is known locally for his wardrobe of colourful T-shirts and helping to organise taxi outings for underprivileged children, wrote:  “I don’t have an option to convert my TX4 (Euro 4) taxi to support Glasgow ULEZ requirements (along with many other committed Hackney taxi drivers waiting for an upgrade to take place).

“I have worked hard in the public Glasgow taxi service for 50 years and the sudden demise of my career is very difficult to take.”

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Former taxi driver Martin Monaghan faced a similar issue in 2019, when he became aware that the LEZ was coming into place. 

He told The Herald: “My 2012 London-style traditional taxi had only done 84,000 miles. Glasgow council was introducing the LEZ and my Euro 4 taxi would not comply and couldn’t be retrofitted to Euro 6. 

“Traditional black taxis are purpose built to go the distance and many have done more than a million miles over their time. However I had no option but to sell up and stop doing the job I loved. I made a substantial loss as a result.”

Monaghan, 53, ultimately decided to retire early. 

Dougie McPherson, Chairman of Glasgow Taxis Ltd, said that he was aware of a “small number” of members who had been affected by VRS’ collapse. 

He added: “A number of operators in this category have paid deposits [£2,000] and are now dealing with the administrators. Some will be able to switch to the exhaust retrofit solution but others now have no alternative other than sourcing a compliant vehicle.

McPherson said that he wrote to the leader of Glasgow City Council, Susan Aitken, on 26 July, informing her “that some operators will have lost deposits and requesting that consideration be given to them to extend the timescale for achieving compliance.”

He has not received a reply.

A spokesman for Transport Scotland told The Herald that some drivers had found alternative supplier arrangements, allowing them to keep their grant. 

He remarked: “The Energy Saving Trust has offered taxi operators the opportunity to switch their grant offer to another retrofit supplier. Some operators have already taken up this offer.”

The spokesman went on to praise the work of the LEZ Support Fund, which has funded the retrofitting of 560 taxis across Scotland, and noted that “grants have provided most of the capital costs and are the most generous per vehicle of any taxi retrofit fund in the UK.”

A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said that Transport Scotland would work with affected stakeholders and local authorities to ascertain the effect of VRS’ liquidation. 

She noted: “We will ensure that affected Glasgow operators will be treated sympathetically in terms of exemption extensions.”

Adding that Glasgow City Council had liaised with taxi drivers and operators since the initial announcement of the LEZ, she remarked: 

"We have consistently encouraged eligible operators to take advantage of Scottish Government funding toward cleaner, new vehicles, or to retrofit existing vehicles - with £3m paid in retrofit grants since 2019 for taxis in the wider Glasgow region. We also amended licensing conditions to expand the options available to operators of taxis which could not be retrofitted due to vehicle age.”

“Eligible operators were also granted an exemption from the scheme’s first year of operation, and we will show further flexibilities beyond this point where operators can show they are actively taking steps to meet the cleaner LEZ standards.

In a compromise between “the health and environmental benefits” of the LEZ and the desire to “support taxi operators”, the spokeswoman noted that any extensions to “existing exemptions” will be “for the shortest period possible.”