Petition to give taxi drivers access to Government’s £10,000 small business grants gathers momentum

A petition to grant taxi drivers access to small business support payments is gathering momentum as nearly 10,000 people sign the online petition.

The petition, which is hosted on the online petition website Organise, calls for taxi drivers, customers and members of the public to support the growing need for extra support to be given to the taxi industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aimed towards the Transport Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, the petition says: “Taxi drivers are in the highest risk category for catching COVID-19. Many taxi owners are self-employed and did not qualify for the small business grant of £10,000. A grant would ensure we can make our vehicles safer for both driver and passengers.”

It continues by detailing why the grant is important for the industry, stating: “Making a safer environment for one of the highest risk occupations in the UK. Our licenced public and private hire taxi services provide a vital support in connecting people with the majority of public hire vehicles supporting wheelchair users.

“Our customers deserve to travel in the safest of environments and this grant would ensure that owners could make the adjustments at a time where their earnings have been greatly reduced.”

The petition has already gathered the support of nearly 10,000 people, and can be viewed and signed here.

The Government’s Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) offers to support small and rural businesses in England by helping them with their business costs during coronavirus.

Small businesses in England which pay little or no business rates are entitled to a one-off cash grant of £10,000 from their local council.

To be eligible small business must be:

• based in England

• occupying property

• eligible for small business rate relief (including tapered relief) or rural rate relief on 11 March 2020.

Some taxi drivers have received support via the SEISS package which helps self-employed workers. However, the support package focuses on providing a percentage of the worker's profits, not taking into account the high fixed costs of vehicles and other expenditure still payable during the pandemic.