WOLVERHAMPTON

More than 11,000 private hire licences were issued by Wolverhampton last year - more than anywhere else in the country - but only 852 of those were for drivers operating in the city.

A total of 11,811 licences were handed out by Wolverhampton City Council, with the majority issued to other areas of the country. It is a trend that has steadily been growing nationally, it has been claimed.

Until recently, drivers and their vehicles had to be licensed within the local authority (LA) they would be working in. However, a change in the law in 2015 opened up the market nationally - allowing councils to engage in cross-border licensing.

Councillor Alan Bolshaw (Lab. Merry Hill) who is chairman of the council's licensing committee, said Wolverhampton's high standards "provided an exemplar for other local authorities to follow" and claimed many other councils had already come to them for advice.

He said the change in law opened the market nationally and allowed private hire drivers a choice.

"There has been negativity in the press, from other councils and some existing drivers. They claim to be concerned about the public being put at risk because of the way in which drivers and vehicles are licensed.

"These concerns are unfounded and commercially motivated, as our approach - coupled with technological and legislative changes - has disrupted the market on a national level.

"In some areas, private hire vehicles, which had been artificially excluded from working, are growing at a tremendous rate. This has caused existing drivers to complain about their reduced income. We have invested heavily in our digital licensing service, thereby reducing the time and cost it takes to process applications.

"Consequently, we are receiving a higher number of applicants than many other LAs which use more old-fashioned methods and where applications can take as long as two years to process," he added.

"This restricts the ability of private hire operators to expand their businesses and unfairly delays applicants the opportunity to work. Operators across the country have praised us for significantly increasing the efficiency and quality of the licensing process for applicants."

There are three licences involved for a private hire driver - someone who must pick up pre-booked fares only and not those who hail them from the street like Hackney Carriage drivers. There is one for the firm, one for the vehicle and one for the driver.

In Wolverhampton, the cost of obtaining a licence is £284 compared to £460 in Stockton, £470 in Cleveland and Redcar and £474 in Middlesborough.

A spokesman for Wolverhampton Council said that as a result of licensing drivers from outside the city, it carried out enforcement operations all over the country.
 
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Taxi-hailing app Uber has agreed out-of-court settlements with two women who were sexually assaulted by one of the firm's drivers.

The victims, who did not know each other, were picked up by Naveed Iqbal on different evenings in Leeds in December 2015.

Both said he assaulted them in the front seat of the vehicle.

Lawyers Irwin Mitchell said it was the "first known case of the kind in the UK" against Uber.
Uber said it had "investigated thoroughly".
'Life turned upside down'

Leeds City Council started an investigation into claims Mr Iqbal used his brother's Uber driver login while he was away and assaulted the women.

It found the account did belong to the brother, but he was in Pakistan at the time.
A judge said [Naveed Iqbal] carried out the attacks "on the balance of probabilities", Leeds Crown Court heard in November 2017.

No criminal charges were brought but he lost his private hire licence and was told to pay £1,500 in fees.

Irwin Mitchell said Uber had agreed "undisclosed settlements".
The first victim said her "whole life has been turned upside down since that night", while the second said: "That one night has had such a negative impact on my life and to hear that it happened to another woman a week earlier was horrible."

Lawyer Emma Crowther, who acted for the women, said: "If Uber had properly investigated the alleged assault suffered by our first client then we believe that the driver would not have been free to go on and pick up the second woman just a week later, during which it is reported he escalated in his abusive behaviour."

An Uber spokeswoman said: "There is no place for this kind of behaviour in the Uber community. We take all reports very seriously and investigate thoroughly.

"We typically waitlist drivers during investigations and if the allegations prove true, an individual would likely face permanent deactivation."
Leeds City Council said: "The individual [driver] in question was suspended immediately and not allowed to drive a private hire vehicle as soon as we were informed.

"Subsequently, following an investigation, we took the decision to revoke his licence in June 2016, which was consequently supported by a judge at an appeal hearing in July 2017."

https://bbc.in/2Ne2DA6