OLDHAM
Every taxi driver in the borough could receive £1,000 to help them get over the impact of Coronavirus after Oldham Council agreed a potential funding package of more than £1.3m.
The council has launched the Discretionary Business Grants for Taxis scheme to help drivers across the borough.
The scheme would see eligible drivers receive a one-off payment.
It is aimed at hackney carriage and private hire taxi drivers who are licensed by Oldham Council.
Councillor Barbara Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Culture, said, said: “Taxi drivers, like many other traders and small businesses, have been hugely impacted by the current lockdown.
“We’ve listened to what the drivers have been telling us and acted. Hopefully, this new grant will help provide a lifeline to them.
“This is a great scheme that will help support the trade as we know many have drivers experienced hardship over the last 12 months.
“Working within the Government guidelines, we will ensure these grants get allocated quickly to help people, and the borough, recover from the financial impact of Coronavirus.
“As a council we have ensured thousands of eligible businesses have had quick access to millions of pounds of vital funding to help them through this most difficult time.”
To be eligible for the Discretionary Business Grants for Taxis scheme drivers must hold a current driver’s licence with the council; and have all DBS, DVLA and medical checks in place (or be in the process of renewing a licence).
As part of the funding package each driver will also receive a free internal safety screen, cleaning materials and sanitiser to help fight the spread of the disease.
Licensed drivers will be contacted with details of how to apply.
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Calderdale Council has been criticised for not providing support grants to help taxi companies through the pandemic.
Taxi firms have spoken out following a report that ‘named and shamed’ Calderdale Council as one of the minority of councils that have not provided support to taxi firms through the pandemic.
The report by Private Hire and Taxi Monthly showed that while 102 councils provided aid to taxi companies, 66 did not, including Calderdale.
The pandemic badly hit the taxi industry, with a drop in demand leading to less work for the drivers.
A spokesman at one Hebden Bridge taxi firm said: “The council don’t help, they don’t care to be honest. They don’t like to help anybody.”
A Halifax taxi firm also told us that they had received no support from the government, and had heard nothing from them about support.
The company we spoke to employed 25 drivers before the pandemic, but now they only have three drivers working.
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WOLVERHAMPTON
Cab drivers have previously protested about the authority, saying it was issuing too many licences.
BBC Midlands Today reporter Audrey Dias, who looked into Department for Transport figures, said Wolverhampton would face a bill of more than £36m if every driver it licensed was able to claim the grant.
Wolverhampton had 18,110 licensed taxi and private hire drivers in March 2020, compared to 6,340 in Birmingham, she said.
Driver Ebrahim Suleman also said Wolverhampton Council had a "responsibility" to help the drivers.
Mr Ahmed said up to 80% of those licensed in Wolverhampton did not live there.
He was joined in his call to the council by another driver, Ebrahim Suleman, who also said Wolverhampton Council had a "responsibility" to help the drivers.
The government said it was up to local authorities to decide who qualified for Additional Restrictions Grant funds but the Wolverhampton authority said it was designed to support self-employed drivers who lived in the city.
"The council is not able to extend the scheme outside the city of Wolverhampton boundary. Therefore, drivers living elsewhere should contact their local authority to see what support might be available to them," a spokesman said.
He added in turn it would consider applications from drivers "licensed by a different authority" who lived in the city.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-56331605
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