An emergency council meeting has been called over the forced cancellation of the annual Edinburgh Taxi Trades Outing.
The long-running event, which takes children with special needs, life-limiting conditions and terminal illnesses for a day out in East Lothian, was cancelled after it emerged that Police Scotland would no longer be able to provide a motorbike escort.
Organisers say the event is impossible to run without an escort, as taxis would get stuck in traffic, disturbing both the comfort and safety of the children, meaning the 80-year-old event will have to be cancelled this year.
Police Scotland has claimed a “policy change” around which events can have a police escort at the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has forced their hand but has offered to work with organisers to find a constructive solution.
The City of Edinburgh Council is attempting to broker that constructive solution and has proposed an emergency Event Planning and Operations Group (EPOG) meeting.
The EPOG is a multi-agency committee consisting of local authority representatives, emergency services, and transport operators.
Council Leader Jane Meagher, who tabled the emergency motion, hopes that this committee could help broker a solution, so the “much-loved fixture” can continue.
She said: “The Annual Children’s Taxi Drivers’ Outing has been a much-loved fixture in the city’s calendar since the 1940s, providing a fun and memorable day out for some of Edinburgh’s most vulnerable children.
“I really hope a solution can be found to allow the event to go ahead as planned this year.”
Keith Bell, organiser of the outing, said that blame for the decision does not lie with either the city council or Police Scotland, because the original policy was implemented in Cheshire.
In a statement, he explained: “Following a planning meeting with City of Edinburgh Council and Police Scotland, we were informed of a policy change from the National Police Chiefs’ Council that Police Officers can no longer escort events such as ours through the streets of Edinburgh and East Lothian.
“Police Scotland offered to support us with static support along Princes Street, the Royal Mile and then through Holyrood Park to Meadowbank, but we would need to sit in the general traffic for the rest of the route, stopping at red traffic lights, junctions, etc as well as the general congestion within Edinburgh.
“Given that it takes approximately 6 minutes for the convoy to pass a static point, it would take about 10 minutes for us all to navigate the first set of lights at Western Corner.
“When we get to Roseburn, the inside lane will be blocked due to parked vehicles and if the first couple of vehicles are waiting to turn right towards Murrayfield Stadium, you might manage 3-4 vehicles progressing towards Haymarket per green light.”
He explained why this might present a problem: “The children participating on the Outing have a variety of needs and some will not manage to cope with sitting stationary for who knows how long waiting for the taxis at the back to catch up so, as our Number 1 priority has been, and always will be the comfort and safety of the children, we have reluctantly decided to cancel this year’s Outing.”
Keith claimed that the lead organisation behind changing the rules on police escorts was the Chief Constable of Cheshire, meaning that a policy decision taken in Cheshire has prevented the revival of a decades-old event in Edinburgh.
Christine Jardine, MP for Edinburgh West said she has been contacted by multiple constituents regarding the issue and is pushing for the event’s police escort to be reinstated.
In a statement, she said: “We all recognise the value of this cherished tradition, not just to the children but to the spirit of the city. It needs to be saved.
“It is heartbreaking to think that the children may lose out because of a rigid national policy. Edinburgh’s taxi drivers have given their time to this event for generations, and the community is rightly proud of all involved in making this truly special day happen.”
Jardine also claims to have arranged a meeting with police: “I will be speaking with other politicians across the city, and I intend to raise it with the police at a meeting I have arranged.
“I believe that the people of Edinburgh will want us to work together to try to save this event and make sure the children, their families and the taxi drivers have another fantastic day.”
An NPCC spokesperson responded to the criticism by saying: “The NPCC develops national policy on behalf of all forces to provide clarity and consistency across policing.
“Forces are operationally independent, so it is for an individual force to carefully consider how a policy is applied in any given circumstance.”
Police Scotland say they will look for alternative ways to “facilitate” the event.
Chief Inspector Craig Rogerson said: “We continue to engage with the event organisers to provide clarity on the operational considerations associated with the event and how we can work with them to facilitate it.
“We are committed to doing what we can to ensure this event goes ahead and working with our key partners, we will look to arrange a further meeting with the organisers.
“Hopefully this meeting will allow us to explore alternative options and agree a way to move forward with what is a valued community event.”
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