Taxis registered in Wolverhampton.

[greyman42]

I recently saw a taxi in York which was registered in Wolverhampton which was unusual. Someone told me that drivers from different parts of the country are registering their cars in Wolverhampton as it is cheap, quick and involves very few checks. Can anyone shed any light on this?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

This online newspaper article linked below makes a few suggestions. Lower fees / costs and speedier application turnaround times seem to be two key factors.

Firms blast 'bane of my life' influx of Wolverhampton taxis in Lancashire

Here's why you might have noticed an influx in Wolverhampton-registered taxis in Lancashire

www.lancs.live

Extract...

The low costs are a big reason why more people are applying for private hire licences in Wolverhampton. Another is the city's faster processing times, as the council invested into its digital licensing service, meaning the time and cost it takes to process applications has reduced.

 

[507 001]

Sefton is another one that you see a lot of, especially around Manchester.

 

[Merle Haggard]

There was something about this in one of the broadsheets a few years ago, which mentioned Amber Valley as being another favourite place to register. You certainly saw ones so registered at Birmingham International.

As well as easy money for a council one of the reasons suggested was some councils do not have the checks on drivers that others do allegedly of course.

 

[Basil Jet]

This thread is about "private hire". Taxis are only licensed to pick up in their licensing area, so there would be no point in someone who wants to work the ranks of York getting a licence from Wolverhampton. Wolverhampton taxis will occasionally take passengers to York, but they will be driving back empty.

Private hire are only allowed to take pre-booked work from an operator, and so while they are licensed by a council, that council's boundaries have no meaning to them, and a private hire operator based in Wolverhampton can take bookings around York if they want.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

It's a common situation, here is a story from 2015

Rossendale Free Press 26 March 2015

Half of Rossendale licensed cabbies driving outside the Valley as council pockets £783,000 from badges​

Around 1,200 taxi drivers are driving in neighbouring authorities

Around 1,200 cabbies are using Rossendale council licences to drive outside of the Valley, it’s been revealed.

There are currently 2,412 drivers licensed by the authority. But the council has confirmed that half of these are using their licences to drive passengers in neighbouring boroughs such as Rochdale, Bradford and Manchester.

Council papers also confirm that income from licensing fees has leapt eight fold from £92,000 in 2011 to £783,000 in 2014/15.

David Lawrie, chairman of Rossendale Taxi Association, said the proliferation has occurred because Rossendale has no cap on the number of licences.

He said: “Other councils have a maximum number of licences they can issue. However, if you introduce a limit here it could potentially put some of our drivers out of work.”

Earlier this year a Rochdale council report claimed that its work to protect vulnerable residents was undermined by a ‘legal loophole’, allowing Hackney Carriage vehicles licensed by one authority to work in another area as a Private Hire vehicle. It claimed Rossendale council also adopted a ‘lower standard’ for its drivers in areas of language skills, area knowledge and safeguarding.

Rossendale council said it refuted various aspects of the report.

Conservative group leader Coun Darryl Smith raised concerns over the situation.

He said: “We can’t carry on the way we have been if it’s causing problems for us and neighbouring authorities. It must be very frustrating when you are focusing on safeguarding and then look at neighbouring boroughs issuing licences like confetti.”

Coun Smith said the council’s income of £783,000 from licences was “a massive amount of money.”

He added: “You’ve got to think there are people coming here because it is easy to get a licence.”

Licensing bosses last month recommended introducing a basic skills test for drivers. The assessment for Hackney Carriage and private hire drivers will establish skills, such as if drivers can give correct change or hold conversations with customers.

Licensing and enforcement manager Tracy Brzozowski told the Free Press the council would expect to see a decline in new applications if the basic skills test is approved by the full council.

She added: “Once a vehicle has been licensed as a hackney carriage by either a district council in England and Wales or by Transport for London (the Public Carriage Office) it is a hackney carriage for the duration of that licence, wherever it is currently located.”

This was followed up in 2016 with

Telegraph and Argus 20 December 2016

Now just one operator with vehicles licensed in Rossendale working in Bradford​

A CHANGE in regulations to crack down on out-of-area cabbies working in the district has seen the number plummet further – from ten operators six months ago to just one, it has emerged.

In June the Telegraph & Argus reported that after new rules were implemented this year, the number of private hire cars in the district which held hackney carriage licences from Rossendale in Lancashire had halved to about 100.

Bradford Council said the number had now fallen even further, from ten operators to just one, on the back of the continuing action.

The practice of “cross-border” cabbies, where vehicles licensed as a hackney carriage in one district take private hire bookings in another area, was highlighted last year when Bradford Council deputy leader Councillor Val Slater urged the public not to get into cabs licensed in Rossendale, because of safety fears.

She said Rossendale had different rules to Bradford, and cars registered as hackney carriages there were also immune from safety spot-checks by Bradford’s licensing enforcement team.

New regulations introduced earlier this year in Bradford stipulate that advance bookings taken for hackney carriage vehicles licensed by another authority and operating as private hire cabs must be maintained in a separate register of bookings.

In addition,a separate telephone line and number must be used with a recorded message stating that the driver and vehicle is not licensed by Bradford Council.

Furthermore, Rossendale Council introduced an an “intended use” policy earlier this year, where anyone applying or renewing a licence would be asked where they planned to work.

Drivers saying they wanted to work outside of that borough would be unlikely to be granted a licence.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, who has taken over the executive responsibility for hackney carriage and private hire, welcomed the reduction.
She said: “I’m pleased that our and Rossendale’s determined efforts to tackle this problem have been so successful and we remain committed to ensuring that this issue does not re-emerge.”

Stuart Hastings, of Keighley Private Hire Association, also confirmed that the numbers of “out of area” drivers had dropped significantly.
“The new rules from Bradford Council essentially ‘did for’ the Rossendale drivers. People in Bradford were using Rossendale as a short-cut to get a licence because it was much easier as the tests and checks were not hard as in Bradford.

“They could also use vehicles that are restricted in Bradford.

“But the separate bookings and phone line has made a big difference – there are very few Rossendale-licensed drivers working here now in comparison.”

Keighley Public Transport Watch chairman Michael Westerman, said: “We’re seeing less and less “cross border” activity, and it isn’t a major problem here any more.

“They’ve been clamping down on this in Rossendale and their own enforcement officers are now working closely with Bradford’s enforcement officers. It’s a big step forward.”

 

[Mojo]

Wolverhampton also has an English language assessment which is easier to pass when compared to others, such as TfL.

 

[Merle Haggard]

The taxis at Birmingham International with plates from distant authorities were running from the taxi rank as hackney, not private hire. This was pre 2020, I no longer travel that way.

 

[david1212]

I can't spread any light regarding specifics of the requirements of Wolverhampton compared to other places. However proportional to the area the number of registrations must be high given most Uber's I see locally are Wolverhampton registered despite working 40+ miles away.

 

[sot]

I was told by some drivers that the testing of the vehicle was able to be done at a greater range of garages, rather than just one council or local authority run testing centre.

Also the cost of it. Not sure if it was also something to do with the vehicle age restrictions being more lenient.

 

[stuu]

This BBC report from January says there are 26,000 registered taxi drivers in Wolverhampton:

Wolverhampton a magnet for taxi driver applications

Wolverhampton registers about a third of England's taxi drivers, according to a report.

www.bbc.co.uk

In the last financial year, the city registered an extra 7,428 drivers, taking the total with a Wolverhampton licence to 26,745.
As of the middle of last month, there were 2,634 applications in the queue, with 1,924 processed but awaiting more information from the applicant.

Must be easy to get a cab

 

[Trackman]

I was told by some drivers that the testing of the vehicle was able to be done at a greater range of garages, rather than just one council or local authority run testing centre.

Also the cost of it. Not sure if it was also something to do with the vehicle age restrictions being more lenient.

I questioned a driver once why it was licenced to Wolverhampton.. It was all down to cost. Not pennies, but about £300

 

[GusB]

Wolverhampton's taxi licence page is here:

Private Hire Licence application | City Of Wolverhampton Council

Apply for your private hire licence online

www.wolverhampton.gov.uk

To process your application, you must have:

A full UK driving licence for Category B vehicles, which you have held for at least 12 months. If you have a foreign driving licence, you may be able to convert it to a UK driving licence by visiting Exchange a foreign driving licence.
Your completed medical certificate (available in the Downloads section), which must be dated no longer than 4 months before your application date. You can also use templates from Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall.
Proof of your right to work in the UK – Here you can find the Right to Work Document Assessment form
In order to assist the process please email your Right to Work documentation to [email protected] and quote your WTP reference you are provided once your application has been submitted.
An acceptable image of all pages of your full enhanced DBS certificate for the position of "other workforce - Taxi licensing" dated within the last 3 months or enrolled on the DBS Update Service.
You must also subscribe to the DBS Update Service at a cost of £13 per year. The DBS certificate must be for an enhanced check for the position of ‘Other Workforce - Taxi Licensing’. You have 30 days from the issue date on your certificate to apply for the Update Service
If you have a manual DBS certificate, you will be unable to subscribe to the DBS Update Service and will need to provide a new DBS certificate every six months.
If you do not have a DBS certificate, you can obtain one via TaxiPlus Wolverhampton.
You can read more about the DBS Update Service here.
A completed DVLA Licence check. This will be completed at the same time as your DBS, when you apply via TaxiPlus.
If you have not provided Licensing Services with a DBS certificate via TaxiPlus Wolverhampton, you will be requested to submit a DVLA Check Code
Completed our Private Hire Training & Assessment Programme within three attempts and no longer than 12 months before your application date (If you have not done so already, you can book this here.
Your own, individual email address.
From 4 April 2022 (renewal applications or new applications that have held a similar licence within the last 12 months), you will need to confirm you have completed a tax check and the 9 character Tax check code must be provided as part of the application process. Your renewal application is deemed incomplete if you have failed to provide an HMRC Tax Check Code as part of your renewal application. Your current licence will expire and you will no longer be able to drive a Licensed Private Hire Vehicle. Complete a tax check for a taxi, private hire or scrap metal licence

Those requirements don't seem to be any different from those of other local authorities (not including Transport for London). Of course, in addition to the driver's licence, a vehicle licence is required for each car that an operator owns. In some areas a taxi office licence is also required if an operator has a certain number of vehicles. Fees can quickly add up, so perhaps Wolverhampton is simply more competitive in this respect. I note that they have an iApply scheme - could it be that this is more efficient than the application processes of other local authorities?

It does seem to me to be a bit of a fudge that you can be licensed to operate in one area, then actually operate in another; however, provided that the rules regarding pre-booking are being adhered to, it appears to be legitimate.

 

[JD2168]

There are quite a few Private Hire Taxis in Sheffield with Wolverhampton plates on them, quite a number are Uber, although I have seen a few for Veezu (previously called City Taxis).

 

[GCH100]

There are quite a number of Wolverhampton plated taxis in Wigan and Leigh as well.

 

[Darandio]

Plenty up here in Middlesbrough and Redcar.

 

[route101]

I was wondering what the deal was with these Wolverhampton Taxis, I thought it was something dodgy.

 

[43055]

Derby is full of Wolverhampton taxis along with Gedling. At one point there was a Windsor and Maidenhead one knocking about as well.

 

[Lewisham2221]

I understand that different authorities have varying standards and criteria, including age, for vehicle licensing.

Also, some just require the regular annual vehicle MOT, whilst other authorities require vehicles to be presented for an additional test with themselves, at a 6 month interval to the MOT.

 

[childwallblues]

In Liverpool there are a number of Wolverhampton plated taxis also Uber from outside the area.

 

[3RDGEN]

Same story came up in Hull recently and it goes back to a change in 2015 since which taxi drivers have been allowed to operate anywhere in England and Wales, regardless of which council has licensed them. Wolverhampton have a digital system which is quicker and hence cheaper than other areas so drivers have gone to them instead saving significant amounts of money.

Hull City Council said there was no evidence of lower standards in Wolverhampton, I suspect other councils are only "worried about different standards" due to the money they are losing from drivers using Wolverhampton instead.

 

[northwichcat]

There's Wolverhampton registered taxis in Cheshire East and Greater Manchester too. I don't know if it's a requirement but they always seem to have yellow stickers highlighting they are for pre-booked journeys only. If you see a Trafford registered taxi in Cheshire East or a Cheshire East one in Cheshire West, the yellow stickers aren't normal. The only other place where I've seen yellow stickers like that is on Ubers.

 

[Darandio]

I don't know if it's a requirement but they always seem to have yellow stickers highlighting they are for pre-booked journeys only. If you see a Trafford registered taxi in Cheshire East or a Cheshire East one in Cheshire West, the yellow stickers aren't normal. The only other place where I've seen yellow stickers like that is on Ubers.

See post #5 above.

 

[northwichcat]

See post #5 above.

That's irrelevant. Some of the taxis with plates belonging to other councils (or even the local council) are only doing private hire work, but they don't stick prominent yellow stickers on their vehicles. That's why I indirectly asked if it was a Wolverhampton specific requirement.

 

[route101]

In Glasgow I notice a fair few Private hires with East Renfrewshire plates operating outwith East Renfrewshire.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Well, every day is a school day!

I was under the impression that private hire drivers were only licensed for journeys that at least start or end in the council area they're registered in. For example there's a guy who lives in my building (in Kirklees) who is a private hire driver registered with Leeds City Council, and he said he was unable to legally take me for hire/reward to Dewsbury (which is also Kirklees).

Perhaps he just didn't want to work for someone in the building for fear that I'd want or expect a reduced rate!

 

[Energy]

Wolverhampton-registered ones are common. Stratford-Upon-Avon District Council made it a requirement back in 2010 that all new hackney carriages* had to be wheelchair-accessible, unsurprisingly the place is filled with Wolverhampton-registered vehicles which don't meet this.

*hackney carriages can operate anywhere on prebooked journeys but can only do pick up fares in their registered area.

 

[Trackman]

Well, every day is a school day!

I was under the impression that private hire drivers were only licensed for journeys that at least start or end in the council area they're registered in. For example there's a guy who lives in my building (in Kirklees) who is a private hire driver registered with Leeds City Council, and he said he was unable to legally take me for hire/reward to Dewsbury (which is also Kirklees).

It was deregulated in 2015.

*hackney carriages can operate anywhere on prebooked journeys but can only do pick up fares in their registered area.

I had a chat with a driver about this a while back, this is correct. Also, it's something to with setting the fares as the local authority set the prices as they are the only ones that can change the meter settings. As I understand the registered area can be out of their borough of where they are registered too.

 

[greyman42]

You see taxis operating in York registered in Wolverhampton, Kirklees, Bradford and Leeds. I assume they see York as an affluent city with a lot of tourists with money to spend.

 

[Bald Rick]

Saw a Wolverhampton registered taxi in Watford last week.

Then I saw loads on the streets of… Wolverhampton.