Taxi marshal scheme to increase safety during the festive period

Cannock Chase Council will be using the services of taxi marshals over the festive period to ensure the safety of partygoers returning home after a night out.

The initiative, which has been arranged by the Council’s Community Safety Team, will see taxi marshals present at Cannock’s taxi rank between the hours of 10pm and 4am on selected dates over the holiday season.

It is expected that the taxi marshals will play a vital role in ensuring the safe and orderly use of the taxi rank- whilst also helping to reduce crime, anti-social behaviour, and helping to safeguard those who are vulnerable.

The marshals shall also have access to Nitenet radios, which link several venues with the Council’s 24hr CCTV control room, allowing for greater communication between the night-time economy which will further assist in keeping the town centre a safe and enjoyable location.

Following the festive period, taxi marshals shall return to the District from March onwards, until the end of 2024, at weekends and on selected dates.

Councillor Jo Elson, Portfolio Leader for Community Wellbeing, said “I am thrilled to see the arrival of taxi marshals in Cannock, they will help to create a welcoming atmosphere for our town centre. I expect them to be the eyes and ears of the nighttime economy, and schemes elsewhere across the country have demonstrated how effective they can be at reducing disorder and increasing the safety of residents and visitors.”

Inspector Chris Moss, Deputy Local Policing Commander said “As a local policing team we welcome this initiative from the District Council. Taxi marshalls are used in other town centres already and the benefits are clear. We want people to be able to visit the town safely at all times of the day and this scheme will work alongside local policing to ensure that safety.”

The taxi marshals have been funded as part of the Government Safer Streets 5 initiative, whereby investments will be made within Cannock South and West to prevent and address anti-social behaviour and associated crime. This was following a successful bid by the Staffordshire Commissioner’s Office.

Staffordshire Commissioner for Police, Fire & Rescue and Crime Ben Adams said “Under the latest round of Safer Streets funding, Cannock received £500,000 for a range of practical interventions, such as this taxi marshal scheme, which will make a real difference to people’s safety and confidence when enjoying nights out.

“This is part of over £5 million which my office has secured from government funding streams since 2020, as part of Staffordshire’s preventative approach to reducing anti-social behaviour and violence more broadly.”