More taxi licences issued in Wolverhampton than anywhere else in the country
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A total of 11,811 licences were handed out by Wolverhampton City Council
More than 11,000 private hire licences were issued by Wolverhampton last year - more than anywhere else in the country - but only 852 of those were for drivers operating in the city.
A total of 11,811 licences were handed out by Wolverhampton City Council, with the majority issued to other areas of the country. It is a trend that has steadily been growing nationally, it has been claimed.
Until recently, drivers and their vehicles had to be licensed within the local authority (LA) they would be working in. However, a change in the law in 2015 opened up the market nationally - allowing councils to engage in cross-border licensing.
Councillor Alan Bolshaw (Lab. Merry Hill) who is chairman of the council's licensing committee, said Wolverhampton's high standards "provided an exemplar for other local authorities to follow" and claimed many other councils had already come to them for advice.
He said the change in law opened the market nationally and allowed private hire drivers a choice.
"There has been negativity in the press, from other councils and some existing drivers. They claim to be concerned about the public being put at risk because of the way in which drivers and vehicles are licensed.
"These concerns are unfounded and commercially motivated, as our approach - coupled with technological and legislative changes - has disrupted the market on a national level.
"In some areas, private hire vehicles, which had been artificially excluded from working, are growing at a tremendous rate. This has caused existing drivers to complain about their reduced income. We have invested heavily in our digital licensing service, thereby reducing the time and cost it takes to process applications.
"Consequently, we are receiving a higher number of applicants than many other LAs which use more old-fashioned methods and where applications can take as long as two years to process," he added.
"This restricts the ability of private hire operators to expand their businesses and unfairly delays applicants the opportunity to work. Operators across the country have praised us for significantly increasing the efficiency and quality of the licensing process for applicants."
There are three licences involved for a private hire driver - someone who must pick up pre-booked fares only and not those who hail them from the street like Hackney Carriage drivers. There is one for the firm, one for the vehicle and one for the driver.
In Wolverhampton, the cost of obtaining a licence is £284 compared to £460 in Stockton, £470 in Cleveland and Redcar and £474 in Middlesborough.
A spokesman for Wolverhampton Council said that as a result of licensing drivers from outside the city, it carried out enforcement operations all over the country.
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