Taxi standards slide 'due to out-of-area drivers'

Taxi standards in Worcester have fallen as out-of-area drivers flood the market, a driver based in the city has claimed.

Mohammed Sajad raised concerns about drivers licensed in Wolverhampton, claiming they were bringing "horrendous" vehicles and poor standards to Worcester.

With private hire drivers in his sights, he told Worcester City Council licensing and environmental health committee members that established Worcester drivers were "at their wits' end", and alleged private hire incursions on to cab ranks.

City of Wolverhampton Council has said that under current law, applicants can apply to any licensing authority for taxi licences and the council may not refuse an applicant simply because they live in a different area.

But Sajad told councillors out-of-area drivers "do not have God-given rights to park on our ranks or in the city centre - no private hire in England has the right to do that".

He alleged that in some cases, drivers with "a badge from Wolverhampton" had "no knowledge of the Highway Code" or "the ethics of the trade".

He called for increased enforcement in Worcester after 20:00, saying he could identify specific hotspots where problems were most common, and asked of committe members who held responsibility for addressing what he described.

"Is it Wolverhampton?" he asked. "Is it you guys? Somebody needs to take the blame because this is a big mess."

Councillor Richard Udall, chair of the licensing committee, questioned whether there was a widespread issue of taxi rank misuse.

"The fact we've got significant competition as a result of a relaxation of the legislation 10 years ago means we've got more competition out there," he said.

"I'm yet to see any evidence that competition is actually breaking the rules by parking on taxi ranks."

Last month, the government said it would press on with reforming taxi licensing to clamp down on out-of-area taxi work, after some details were set out in the King's Speech.

City of Wolverhampton Council issued more than 33,000 private hire licences last year, far more than any other local authority.

Up to 96% of taxi driver licences issued between April 2023 and March 2024 were for people living outside of the city.

The city council has said it "wholeheartedly" supported any government plans for reform and that it was the only council in the country that checked every driver's criminal record every single day through the DBS Update Service.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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