According to multiple reports, 158 of those licensed had convictions for violent offences, 61 for drug offences, 36 for drink offences, and four for sexual offences. Sixteen drivers had convictions in two of the requested categories. Wolverhampton council issued more than 42,000 driver licences between April 2023 and March 2024.
Birmingham and Bradford issued the second and third largest number of licences, more than 7,000 each. Ninety-six per cent of Wolverhampton's licensed drivers lived outside the city. Drivers with licences issued by Wolverhampton council can work in other local authority areas using apps like Uber and Bolt.
truly shocking
Wolverhampton council denied claims it is quicker and easier to get a licence there. A report by the council's regulatory committee said its appeal to drivers is due to digitisation and streamlined processes. The government is exploring proposals to reduce the number of licensing bodies and reduce out-of-area working.
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust has been campaigning for consistent safeguarding standards in taxi licensing since 2014. The trust called for drivers to be viewed as a regulated activity to ensure stricter background checks. A Department for Transport spokesperson said statutory guidance is clear that anyone convicted of a sexual offence should not be granted a taxi or private hire licence.
We want our taxis and private hire vehicles [PHVs] to be among the safest and most trusted in the country, but we can’t do this with the current broken licensing system, where local leaders have zero oversight over nearly half the PHVs on our streets.
The Department for Transport said licensing decisions are taken by individual local authorities with reference to government guidance. According to The Guardian - Main UK, Andy Burnham described the situation as "truly shocking" and said the current licensing system is broken, leaving local leaders with zero oversight over nearly half the private hire vehicles on their streets.