Plan to make private hire recruitment easier

A report to councillors said recruitment of drivers was a problem

New licences are set to be offered in the Telford area, allowing minicab drivers to take on a limited set of services, like home-to-school transport.

A report to councillors said restricted licences would represent a more "compelling offer" for private hire firms who only carry out certain types of work.

The meeting on Thursday will hear that the scheme would help Telford & Wrekin Council regulate more services locally, as without it, there was a risk operators would seek to be licensed in areas with more flexible policies.

Since 2015, drivers can be licensed anywhere, leading to concerns that some are shopping around for less onerous requirements.

The report by the authority's licensing manager, Amitabh Singh, also said it would help ease a recruitment crisis in the trade.

He said there were "lots of competing alternative driving opportunities in the food and parcel delivery service areas, and the proposals in this report seek to overcome some of the difficulties in driver retention".

The report also said that "attracting new operators with new operating models will allow the council to uphold better standards in the private hire market".

If the policy is agreed, council officers would draw up the "conditions deemed necessary to ensure public safety".