How banned taxis in Weston-super-Mare are using Wolverhampton loophole to get around rules
Taxi drivers in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare who have been stripped of their licence are taking advantage of a Wolverhampton “loophole”
Taxis need to be licensed by local councils, who require them to pass a “knowledge” test and uphold standards of vehicle and conduct. But councillors have said that taxi drivers who failed North Somerset Council’s test or who cause problems and are stripped of their licence are just getting licensed by Wolverhampton instead — around 100 miles away — and coming back to work in the town.
In October, City of Wolverhampton Council said it would be putting the brakes on the number of private hire drivers it licences after recent sex abuse cases.
Ten years ago, the authority licensed around 1,200 drivers, but following deregulation, the number exploded to more than 45,000, working in towns as far afield as Blackpool and Southampton.
Following sex abuse cases where licensed taxis were implicated the council now wants to deter applications in a bid to limit possible reputational damage.
The Deregulation Act 2015 allowed taxi operators to subcontract bookings out to other firms licensed by other authorities, whereas previously, they could only use companies from the same area.
The change coincided with major improvements in how Wolverhampton licensed drivers, making it one of the fastest services in the country and applications boomed - and because of the law, applications couldn’t be refused just because applicants were living outside the area.
Raising the issue at a North Somerset Council meeting on November 12, Mike Solomon (Hutton and Locking, Liberal Democrat) said: “We’ve seen a lot of complaints recently that anybody who needs a taxi licence that can’t get one from our council because we are very stringent in our tests can apply to Wolverhampton and very easily get that licence. In fact, they put the answers to their questions on the internet.”
Chair of the council’s licensing committee, Stuart Davies (Wick St Lawrence and St Georges, Independent) said: “We have revoked licences and then these people have gone out to get the licences through the other licensing department — which is nowhere near our geographic area. […] Some of these people that are getting these licences shouldn’t be having them and that’s a real concern.”
James Clayton (Weston-super-Mare South, Labour) added: “I am not going to name the company — but there is one company in Weston that, once the drivers have failed their application for a licence in North Somerset, they are directing them straight to Wolverhampton.”
He added that local MP Dan Aldridge would be speaking to colleagues in Wolverhampton about the issue. Bridget Petty (Backwell, Green) called for a publicity campaign to tell people to look out for which council licensed their taxi.
Mr Davies said: “What we have done is try to look at a way of negating this procedure and the way that this can be circumvented. So all I can say is watch this space at the moment and see how we are going to tackle that issue.”
Catherine Gibbons (Weston-super-Mare Milton, Labour) added: “When I was in Liverpool recently at a conference, it was a major complaint amongst taxi drivers there that half their taxis are licensed in Wolverhampton as well.”
Additional reporting by Martyn Smith, local democracy reporter