Yes, I'd say those numbers need a large pinch of salt. The pro-cap side hit the survey hard and the anti-cap side didn't - although that tells a story in itself.
I read what GCC has published -
The Leader of the Council ... indicated that in her view there had been changes in the sector and across the wider economy that meant that the policy limiting private hire car licences was no longer appropriate.The council is the regulator so (personally) I think the leader of the council shouldn't express a view either way.
However -
Given the clear conflict in views and the need for licensing policies to be evidence based, it is recommended that the Committee proceed with the instruction of a full independent review of both the Limitation of Taxi Licences Policy and the Private Hire Car Licence Overprovision Policy. In doing so, the responses to the online survey and the written responses should be shared with the organisation commissioned to undertake the review.
In addition to considering the number of licences and the level of demand, it is suggested that the scope of the independent review should be extended to consider a number of the issues that were raised in the consultation responses, including the impact of the policies on:-
- Competition and pricing
- Consumer attitudes and behaviour in relation to availability of taxis and private hire cars as late night transport options, particularly in the city centre
- Impact on the wider city centre economy
- Safety standards of vehicles
- Comparisons with other cities across the UK
- Impact on operator and driver earnings and the ability to attract new entrants
- Whether other barriers exist to attracting new entrants to the trade.In other words, let's kick the can down the road.
https://onlineservices.glasgow.gov.uk/c ... nid=119175Appendix 3 is long but worth a look for the comments - there's maybe some other issues GCC should address.