Taxi drivers urged to check Government ‘support finder’ to help them through ‘challenging time’

Cab drivers in England are being urged to check a recently launched ‘support finder’ to help them through the current ‘challenging time’.

The advice comes from a Transport Minister after further questions were raised on what future support taxi drivers could obtain in areas moving into Tier 3 lockdown.

There was also advice for drivers to check local discretionary grant schemes which are provided by Local Authorities.

Peter Gibson, Conservative MP for Darlington, asked the Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps: “What steps he is taking to support taxi drivers in COVID-19 tier 3 areas.”

Rachel Maclean, DfT Transport Minister, said: “The Government has announced several measures available to UK businesses, including the taxi and private hire sector, to support them through this challenging time, and launched a ‘support finder’ tool to help businesses and self-employed workers quickly and easily determine what financial support is available to them during the coronavirus pandemic.

“From 2 December, councils in England in Tier 2 and Tier 3 will receive funding to provide grants to closed businesses and to be able to run local discretionary grant schemes to provide support to affected businesses. These allocations will be published shortly and are in addition to the £2.3bn already provided to local councils since the start of the pandemic.

“The Local Authority administers the scheme and determines on a case-by-case basis where to allocate this funding.”