Taxi Driver Online

Plenty of stuff about Sandwell in another thread(s).

But slightly different issue here as regards the numbers. And presumably the article spectacularly misses the point


Huge drop in number of taxi drivers in Sandwell, figures show

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/loc ... ures-show/

Transport chiefs have discussed making life easier for Sandwell taxi drivers – as new figures show hundreds of drivers have quit working in the borough.

The number of taxi drivers registered in the borough fell from 2,400 to 1,300, according to preliminary figures shown in Sandwell council’s taxi licensing service improvement plan.

Cabbies in Sandwell have spent months campaigning for the council to cut fees and red tape, arguing they pay more than drivers in neighbouring councils and are being priced out of the trade.

They claim that they are being asked to pay up to £399 for a one-year taxi plate, nearly twice as much as in Birmingham.

They have also complained about garage appointments, delays in issuing private hire licenses, and a lack of support.

The plan, presented to councillors at the Sandwell council’s licensing committee this week, raised concerns that a number of drivers had decided to no longer work the area.

It stated: “A reduction has been seen in licence holders. This could be attributed to a number of factors although reasons for non-renewal are not captured on system to provide any meaningful analysis.”

The improvement plan comes after a summer of protest – including one as far back as August last year – where taxi drivers in Sandwell marched from West Bromwich town centre to the council’s headquarters.

A variety of issues identified by the taxi drivers have been actioned by the council, such as more garages across the borough to be used for inspections, and dual licenses for private hire and hackney carriages.

Imran Qureshi, secretary of Sandwell Private Hire Drivers Association, said he welcomed the moves but was still concerned over fees.

“Our concerns are more than what they gave to us, what they listened to, what they plan to do.

“Our main issue continues to be the licences fees. They still feel higher compared to other boroughs. I feel they need to adjust their policy to bring more interest for taxi drivers to come to Sandwell.

“We will move forward on this matter, but it’s completely satisfactory. It’s better than nothing.”

Councillor Laura Rollins, cabinet member for leisure and tourism at Sandwell council, said: “Taxi and private hire drivers provide a vital service for those who need to travel throughout Sandwell, including for some of our most vulnerable residents.

“In response to issues raised by the taxi trade we agreed a comprehensive plan to make a number of improvements to our taxi licensing service in December 2021. Since then we have implemented changes that address sixteen of the twenty-four issues identified.

“The licensing committee has considered the remaining issues carefully including proposals to increase the number of garages approved to carry out safety checks and changes to medical checks. The director of borough economy and I will make a decision, based on the committee’s recommendations and the need to ensure the safety of passengers.

“I am committed to continued improvement of our taxi licensing service whilst also ensuring consistent safety standards for taxi and private hire passengers.”

Maybe no longer badging and plating in the area rather than not actually working there


I'd guess it's not that difficult to work out

Maybe ask drivers where they're now licensing, or maybe liase with other councils like Wolverhampton?

By the way, I'm assuming the 'taxi driver' numbers are actually PH rather than HC, or a combined total, but who knows?

But I very much doubt HC numbers alone have fallen by the kind of magnitude shown by the figures in the article, because of course you can't decide to badge and plate elsewhere and come back to Sandwell to do public hire work.

I would think a number have given up which would be in line with the rest of the uk but I would be very surprised if there aren't a large number of Wolverhampton licensed drivers now working in that part of Brum

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Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !

The fact that 100s have quit has made life incredibly better for existing Sandwell drivers.

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IDFIMH

Spoke to a fella from Coventry the other day. He was delivering a new car.

Asked him why he didn't drive a taxi/PH and he said that there was a Uber parked up in every street and none of them make any money.

Not sure how much of that is true, but he had no reason to lie to me.

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IDFIMH

The document the numbers come from doesn't make it any clearer whether it's HC or PH, or both. In fact it's one of those documents that uses the t-word generically, and then uses hackney and private hire to delineate the two sides (which is why I never use the t-word rather than HC, because that way there's no room for confusion).

In fact it looks like the council can't even verify the numbers, and that the figures actually come from the trade.

So either the trade knows the numbers better than the council, or they're just plucked out of the air

But if the council can't even verify the numbers, er...

The numbers thing is between item 4 and 5 on this document:

https://sandwell.moderngov.co.uk/docume ... t%2022.pdf

Might be some interesting stuff for anoraks - noticed some stuff about vehicle colours and appearance for larger PHVs, for example, and the usual shenanigans regarding bus lane access.

One is about the size of plates and stickers (Item 11), and the trade seems to want more discreet ones like TfL. The council responds that TfL operates under different legislation

Aye, that means Sandell MBC can't look at sticker and plate sizes etc


"Plate sizes nationally are standard."

They had 1269 taxi and PH drivers in March 2022.

They had 1357 taxi and PH drivers in March 2021.

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IDFIMH