Holding the Mayor to account
www.glalibdems.org.uk
CONTACT: Richard Stokoe 020 7983 4336/07720 838 351
EMBARGO: IMMEDIATE Monday 23rd May 2005
5,700 SHORTFALL IN LICENSED CABBIES IN LONDON - LIB DEMS
New figures revealed today by the London Assembly Liberal Democrats show that London is facing a shortage of more than 5,500 licensed cabbies leading to concerns that passengers may turn to illegal minicabs to get home at night.
The figures, taken from Transport for London Board papers, show that there was a 1,200 shortfall in the number of licensed taxi drivers Transport for London believed were needed for this year. There was also a 4,500 shortfall in the number of private hire drivers licensed leading to an overall shortage of taxi drivers in the capital of 5,700.
TfL points to ‘significant problems with the quality of application and Criminal Records Bureau forms completed by the applicants and the medical forms completed by GPs’, as the reason for the lack of the extra licensed cabbies.
London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, Graham Tope, said:-
“While the number of cabbies is increasing, it appears that the increase is falling well short of the number needed to meet demand.
“I am seriously concerned that the shortage of licensed cabbies could lead to more people using unlicensed minicabs because they are the cheapest and easiest form of transport to get home on a late night.
“It is time the Mayor raised their game in helping to get more cabbies registered and licensed before all the good work by Transport for London with their ‘Safer Travel at Night’ scheme is undone.”
ENDS
Notes to editor
In Transport for London Board Papers discussed on Wednesday 18th May 2005, Agenda Item 5, Page 8, Paragraph 3.27, it states:
I challenged them on the above by way of a letter to Lynne Featherstone MP, promptly relied I may add.
Dear Mr (GBC!),
Thank you for your e-mail regarding Lynne's comments on the radio about the shortfall of taxi drivers. I enclose the press release around which these comments were based. It is not the Liberal Democrats that are saying that there is a shortfall of private hire or black cab drivers, but Transport for London. According to the latest Transport for London Board Papers from the 18th May 2005, they missed their target for recruiting new drivers in both sectors. They had apparently set a target for this year which they were 1,200 black cabbies short of achieving and around 4,500 private hire cabbies short. As Liberal Democrats we are highlighting these figures rather than reaching this conclusion ourselves.
We are currently pursuing the Mayor and Transport for London to understand the following extra information:-
1- how did the target get set, who set it and why?
2- who was consulted - were the LTDA included in any conversations on the matter?
3 - what evidence does the Mayor and Transport foe London have to say that there are not enough taxi drivers (whether black can or private hire)?
Once we have the following information from both Transport for London and Ken Livingstone then we will be able to put forward more concrete explanations as to what the logic is behind these assertions. <<cabbieshortage.doc>> Apart from the paragraph that you will see at the very bottom of the press release that comes from Transport for London Board papers - there is no other reference we can find that points to why Transport for London and the Mayor are saying that there is such a shortfall.
We will continue investigating this, and if you would like, I will keep you informed of what we find out.
We have been in touch with the LTDA and we will shortly be in touch with the London Cab Drivers Club to discuss this further.
Kind regards
So there you have it, how rumours start, they were refering to in the main about licensed minicab drivers, not licensed Taxi drivers.
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