London Assembly to scrutinise TfL over private hire licensing delays as more than 1,600 temporary licences issued

Members of the London Assembly Transport Committee are to examine Transport for London’s handling of ongoing private hire vehicle (PHV) licensing delays, after new figures revealed over 1,600 drivers are currently operating on temporary short-term licences.

In a letter sent to Assembly members on 21 October, Helen Chapman, TfL’s Director of Licensing and Regulation, confirmed that renewal applications remain under heavy pressure due to what she described as a predictable “peak period of licence renewals”. Chapman said this peak is a result of “the sharp increase in application volumes in 2013 due to the growing popularity of app-based services at the time, as well as growth in new applications following the pandemic as services began to reopen”.

According to TfL’s latest data, there are approximately 5,000 PHV renewal applications currently open. Of these, 676 have already expired, while 4,311 remain active ahead of their expiry dates. To help prevent drivers from being unable to work, TfL has issued 1,601 short-term licences to those who meet certain criteria, allowing them to continue operating legally while their full renewals are processed.

Chapman told Assembly members: “We continue to prioritise renewal applications and use the short-term licence process where drivers meet specific criteria. We are responding to all emails well within the 10-working day target.”

The letter also set out the operational measures taken by TfL to manage the backlog. Chapman confirmed that 40 additional full-time licensing staff have been recruited and remain in post “for as long as necessary”. She added that the new recruits are being trained “across additional licensing processes to enable a multi-skilled team, able to cope with demands across different aspects of our licensing team”.

TfL said it is making use of data systems to speed up processing where possible. “Over recent weeks we have been using data insights which allow us to quickly identify when missing information becomes available from third parties, for example DBS checks. We are then able to add these to applications and process them more quickly,” the letter explained.

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The latest breakdown also shows that 1,119 PHV renewal applications are incomplete due to missing information, 1,102 drivers are yet to complete their English Language Requirement or SERU test, and 140 applications are awaiting medical review. Chapman reassured Assembly members that TfL “anticipated this in our resourcing volumes and we are managing the demand”.

TfL said it has also improved turnaround times for new applicants. All new PHV driver applications submitted in September had reached the initial assessment stage by mid-October, allowing eligible applicants to book assessments “with good availability”.

The Assembly Transport Committee is expected to discuss the topic later this month about the continued reliance on temporary licences and the progress being made to clear the current backlog.

TfL has said it will provide further updates to the committee.