MP calls on Council to financially support struggling taxi and private hire drivers

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons - Richard Townshend

MP for Peterborough, Paul Bristow, has called on Peterborough City Council to use the Additional Revenue Grant given by the Government to support taxi and private hire drivers during the ongoing pandemic.

Bristow wrote to Gillian Beasley, Chief Executive of the council, pointing out that the taxi and private hire industry has been one of the hardest hit sectors from nationwide lockdowns caused by the coronavirus.

Bristow met with the Peterborough Private Hire Association to discuss the impact on the trade. Bristow stressed in his letter to Beasley that drivers have continued to offer their services throughout the pandemic, despite only making a fraction of their previous income.

Bristow wrote: "Bars, restaurants and hospitality venues are all closed, resulting in much lower night-time trade.

"There is no longer school-run demand and, during lockdown, little to and from workplaces. Put simply, people are rightly staying at home. Drastically fewer journeys means significantly less income for taxi drivers."

Bristow is now calling on the council to pull together to help drivers in any way they can to ensure the trade has a healthy future to assist the travelling public once the UK moves past the pandemic.