Commensurate with this now annual report from licensing officers, there's now an annual article in the local press.
And, like previous years, no shortage of detail about the complaints, but starts to drone on a bit (like me, I'd guess both readers on here will think
). Then again, so did yesterday's piece about fares
Anyway, as per previous years, in the grand scheme of things there doesn't seem to be much going on in Sunderland, which is surprising for a city somewhere between Dundee and Aberdeen in terms of population.
Complaints about Sunderland's taxis on the rise - including bad driving, behaviour and random drop-offshttps://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/pol ... fs-5005823Complaints about taxi drivers and vehicles on Wearside are on the rise, according to the latest annual report from council licensing chiefs.In recent years, Sunderland City Council’s Licensing and Regulatory Committee has published data linked to Hackney Carriage and private hire licensing matters across the city.
The first annual report on the issue monitored licensing performance and activity over a 12-month period in 2022, and marked a drive by the city council to publish data about licensed drivers and vehicles.
This includes the number of applications for new licences, transfers of ownership and renewals, as well as complaints related to licensed drivers and vehicles.
Annual reports published so far have covered the calendar years of 2022 and 2023 and the latest annual report was recently released by the city council, covering data between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024.
According to council figures for 2024, there has been a 17 per cent increase in complaints “relating to licensed drivers” compared to 2023 figures, an increase from 53 to 62.
There was also an increase in “complaints received regarding vehicles” compared to 2023, with a large jump from two complaints to 24 complaints.
A report to councillors said that 13 of these vehicle complaints related to “either vehicles licensed by other licensing authorities using Sunderland City Council designated taxi ranks, ‘plying for hire’, or vehicles licensed by the council incorrectly using the designated taxi ranks”.
The annual licensing report, presented at the latest meeting of Sunderland City Council’s Licensing and Regulatory Committee (February 17, 2025) also provided a breakdown of the types of complaints in 2024.
For the 62 complaints related to licensed drivers, this included around 25 complaints linked to “behaviour / attitude”, with examples cited including “not dropping off at requested destination”, “driver sounding the horn to attract attention” and more.
Around 19 of the 62 driver complaints were linked to “driving ability / skills” with complaints including the driver either “not signalling when changing lanes”, “pulling out in front of complainant” or “driving through bus gates”.
Around 11 complaints in 2024 were linked to fares / card payments, such as not accepting card payments or passengers “using card to pay [and] bank account was debited at a higher amount than the fare displayed”, and seven complaints were linked to refusal of fare or not accepting booking for a fare.
For the 24 vehicle complaints, more than half (13 complaints) were linked to “incorrect use of the taxi ranks, by either ‘out of town vehicles’, or vehicles licensed by the council”.
The remaining 11 complaints were linked to either the condition of bodywork, or signage on the vehicle, or were complaints listed as “other”.
Of the 86 driver / vehicle complaints in 2024, more than half saw some form of formal action, from verbal warnings and advice, to written warnings or ‘severe written warnings’ and 35 complaints saw “no further action taken, or feasible”.
At the time the annual licensing report was published, there were “ongoing investigations” in relation to five complaints.Complaints relating to licensed drivers were noted to come from either passengers, other licensees or elsewhere.
On Wearside in 2024, no licensed drivers were considered by the Licensing and Regulatory Committee, which conducts hearings in private, compared to three cases the previous year.
There were no cases considered by the committee in 2024 which involved the “non-immediate revocation of licences to drive Hackney Carriage and private hire vehicles”.
However, there was one case considered by senior council officers looking at the “immediate suspension, or revocation of licences to drive Hackney Carriage and/or private hire vehicles”.
According to the council’s annual report, the case was decided under ‘delegated powers’ and “resulted in the immediate revocation of the driver’s licences on the grounds of public safety.”The 2024 annual report was considered by the Licensing and Regulatory Committee at its latest meeting on February 17, 2025.
The introduction of the annual reports was originally linked in with government guidance and the Department for Transport’s ‘statutory taxi standards’ document.
At the latest Licensing and Regulatory Committee, council licensing officers were asked what they thought the reasons were for the increase in complaints in 2024, compared to 2023.
Councillors heard the large increase in vehicle complaints was mainly around vehicles not licensed by the city council using the local authority’s taxi ranks, or the council’s own vehicles “inappropriately using the taxi ranks such as queue-jumping”.
Council licensing officers added a number of complaints received do not provide further details of the vehicle or driver, which can lead to no further action being taken.
However, it was noted there were ‘cross-border’ mechanisms in place in the region to allow councils to check vehicles, including driver and vehicle details, to assist with enforcement action.
Future annual reports from Sunderland City Council aim to detail previous figures to help monitor changes and trends going forward.
The next annual report, looking at data for 2025, is expected to be considered at a meeting of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee in January, 2026.
Annual licensing reports can be found by visiting Sunderland City Council’s website.
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