Wolverhampton a magnet for taxi driver applications

City of Wolverhampton Council said it prioritised local taxi driver applications

Wolverhampton has registered about a third of England's taxi drivers and is inundated with applications, according to a report.

The city has taken on new staff in a bid to cope with demand, documents say.

Papers found the situation had emerged since the government in 2015 ruled drivers could register anywhere in the country, not just their local area.

Slower processing times and higher fees elsewhere had encouraged many drivers to choose Wolverhampton.

The council report also stated its licensing team prioritised drivers in its own area and had taken on 20 extra staff in the last year to deal with the volume of applications, with plans to appoint more.

In the last financial year, the city registered an extra 7,428 drivers, taking the total with a Wolverhampton licence to 26,745.

As of the middle of last month, there were 2,634 applications in the queue, with 1,924 processed but awaiting more information from the applicant.

A total of 927 drivers were said to be waiting for a hearing to determine their application.

Digital licensing service

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said that since the change in the law, Wolverhampton had invested heavily in its digital licensing service, reducing processing time and cost.

The report noted there had been a decline in the number of private hire drivers nationally since 2020, possibly, it said, because drivers had left the industry after seeing a loss of trade during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some drivers may have taken on related work as delivery drivers, the report added.

Members of the council's regulatory committee are set to discuss the matter on Wednesday.

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