Council issues 8,563 taxi licences in five months

Taxi drivers are concerned about a "flooded marketplace" pushing down wages

Wolverhampton’s council issued 8,563 new taxi licences in the first five months of this year, which is more than 30 times higher than other Midlands authorities.

The figures were obtained by the GMB union, which said drivers were concerned about a “flooded marketplace” that was pushing down earnings.

City of Wolverhampton Council has become a magnet for taxi licence applications in recent years, which council papers have suggested was due to longer processing times and higher fees elsewhere.

The authority said it could not refuse applicants because they lived in a different area.

The GMB’s research, which contains figures for 16 licensing authorities in the West and East Midlands, found that 277 licences were issued in Birmingham, which was in second place despite being a far larger city.

There were 194 licences issued in Walsall, 76 in Leicester, and 27 Coventry.

Calls for standardisation

Taxi drivers do not have to live and work where they obtain their licence – figures have shown that up to 96% of the taxi driver licences issued in Wolverhampton in the 2023-24 financial year were for drivers who lived elsewhere.

GMB Organiser Kate Gorton said while there were barriers to an authority capping applications, “we’ve got one council essentially issuing licences for the rest of the whole region.”

She added that “more and more drivers report a flooded marketplace is pushing down income" and they found themselves "waiting for longer between jobs".

The union has called for standardisation across the authorities that issue licences, in terms of price, timescales, and the tests that drivers have to do.

'Legislation is required'

Greater Manchester's mayor Andy Burnham said last year that the high proportion of out-of-town taxis in his region was “undermining public safety” and Wolverhampton’s checks “aren’t as stringent”.

A spokesperson for the council said: “While City of Wolverhampton Council has never actively encouraged applications from drivers outside the city, existing legislation requires that if an application is submitted and requirements are met, then the application must be granted.

“Applicants have always been able to apply to any licensing authority for taxi licences and the council cannot refuse an applicant simply because they live in a different area.

"It is illegal for licensing authorities to impose a limit on the number of private hire licences it issues."

The local authority added that it was not for councils, but private hire vehicle operators, and in many cases the drivers themselves who set fares, and therefore incomes.

“As a council, we support further standardisation, however, legislation is required to introduce any changes and the council is not in control of this," it added.