Controversy over PHV licence numbers in Wolverhampton
- Perry Richardson
- Apr 8, 2018
- 1 min read
It's been revealed that there has been an incredible 6,847 per cent increase in private hire licences issued to drivers living outside of their licensing area by Wolverhampton council since 2013.
A mere 60 licences were issued in 2013, that number had catapulted to over 4100 last year.
This has prompted criticism from some quarters, with Shaz Saleem, an advisor for the West Midland Drivers’ Association stating that the situation was a joke.
The issues surrounding cross-border hiring have recieved widespread attention because of the safety issues pertaining to the dubious but legal practice, and are currently subject to scrutiny at parliamentary level.
Wolverhampton council have made £1.29 million in 2016/17 through the licencing of PHVs.
The situation has been allowed to exacerbate due to a loophole in the 2015 deregulation act. The loophole allows councils with potentially weaker regulation to issue licences to individuals who may have had their licence revoked in other areas or not meet another areas criteria which may be stricter.
