Steve Wright, LPHCA Chair, wrote an article for Pro Driver Magazine giving his views on why Wolverhampton Licensing is not only a positive thing but, in many cases, essential for the well-being of the private hire industry.
Many years in the private hire vehicle (PHV) industry have taught me a couple of important things. The first being you absolutely cannot please everybody, the second thing is that there is much misinformation being articulated, once upon a time delivered by Chinese Whispers, but nowadays spread via the internet.
Regarding pleasing everybody, in my view it’s a fool that tries to do so. For example CCTV, Signage, and now ‘where and when’ you are able to license, have become the biggest differing view topics that LPHCA Members speak to me about.
For this reason, whilst I have very strong views as a former driver, operator and nowadays elected trade representative, which I will be honest and open about, the bottom line is that I will always put forward the majority view of LPHCA Members. Currently that view is that Wolverhampton Licensing and out of area licensing in general is not only a positive thing, but in many cases essential for the well-being of the private hire industry.
I mention above that the second thing I have learned is that there is much misinformation being articulated, nowadays spread via the Internet. In my opinion Wolverhampton Licensing is, by a country mile, subject to the most unprecedented misinformation, usually from persons and organisations with vested interests well outside the private hire vehicle trades.
The primary source of misinformation comes from the Hackney Carriage Trade and their representatives who, I believe for protectionist reasons, wish to preserve their operating areas and traditional sources of income. This, of course, is out of kilter with the modern world, good environmental policy, fair competition and public safety.
In 2018 a proposal was put forward called the ABBA rule, which, if introduced, would have taken the private hire vehicle industry back to the dark ages via ridiculous, un-environmentally friendly and supply choking restrictions that would, in my view, compromise public safety and put prices in private hire through the roof.
Fortunately, the LPHCA’s Platinum Executive Members including Greg Mendoza of Carey, Jimmy Lazarou of Crawfords, Andy Mahoney MBE of 24x7 and the late Eddie Townson of Carlton Cars, joined me over three separate meetings hosted by the Department for Transport (DfT) to help prevent this potty proposal going forward.
The Defeated ABBA rule proposal advocated that every private hire journey must either start or end in the driver/operator’s home licensing authority.
Fortunately, the proposal was rejected. However that hasn’t stopped vested interests trying to restrict where and when you can be licensed, no matter how inefficient or expensive your local licensing authority may be. This alongside overzealous, expensive and often unnecessary local requirements.
The prominent advocators of the ABBA proposal regularly cited poor standards of licensing authorities; however, they generally failed to name and shame such authorities and the alleged poor standards. If there was any evidence that there are very poor regulatory standards in a local authority, surely it is a matter for the Local Government Association (LGA) and others to deal with, and not something that should be wrongly dealt with via restrictive practice, anti-competitive and commercially-founded regulations.
National Licensing
If you are an HGV or bus driver, you can get a licence issued by the DVLA that is valid throughout the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland). You are not tied to where you live or where your operator is based.
The standards are national, so it does not matter where you meet the requirements and costs are competitive and widely consistent. Similarly, a PSV (Public Service Vehicle) operator licence for drivers is a national licence.
National Licensing with regional enforcement would, of course, solve many issues. However, the LPHCA is absolutely opposed to Minimum National Licensing Standards because that is what we have now, which is the primary cause of inconsistent regulation UK-wide.>
Wolverhampton Misinformation and Facts
Before answering Why Wolverhampton? I will dispel some of the swathes of misinformation surrounding Wolverhampton Licensing.
It is often wrongly said that Wolverhampton have low standards, however the requirements are stringent and often far higher than many other Licensing Authorities. It is also erroneously stated that Wolverhampton compliance and enforcement nationally is poor, but evidence shows that their compliance and enforcement is probably the best in England, with more late-night compliance officers and operations nationally than any other licensing authority.
It is also wrongly claimed that Wolverhampton Licensed Drivers are driving from Wolverhampton daily to all parts of the country, which is not the case.
The biggest piece of misinformation, however, is the inaccurate allegation that ‘Out of Area Licensed’ drivers were involved in the Rotherham Child Sexual Exploitation scandal, when I have been informed that any taxi drivers involved were licensed locally.
More and more licensing authorities are doing joint compliance and enforcement with Wolverhampton, which has reduced costs, enabled better outcomes and improved public safety.
Why Wolverhampton?
Majoritively the LPHCA’s operator based membership operates nationally, unlike the Hackney Carriage Trade, which tends to work in locally defined zones where they are permitted to rank up or ply for hire on the streets where they are licensed.
Private hire does not work this way, working over a far wider area, unlimited by artificial restrictions that were put in place back when the distance of the last watering trough for horses determined the limit of an operating area.
LPHCA Members have always operated in multiple licensing areas, and we have many Members who are licensed out of necessity in dozens of licensing areas.
Following a trip to Manchester five or six years ago, I learned first-hand from LPHCA Members of the difficulties they were having getting themselves, drivers and vehicles licensed.
I learned that in some cases it was taking ten months to get drivers licensed, impossible waiting times for vehicle testing and extreme difficulties with renewals, often exacerbated by problems communicating with their licensing authorities and non-responses to their emails and telephone calls.
During the pandemic private hire vehicle owners, operators and drivers found it increasingly difficult to get licensed, with many licensing authorities simply shutting up shop or providing a much reduced ‘ghost service’.
As an industry, which needed to work through the pandemic to keep essential services like the NHS, Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) and ambulance and non-ambulant transportation running, being unable to licence was a catastrophe for all concerned.
To stay operational, licensees had no alternative other than to look elsewhere for their licenses. Wolverhampton and other efficient licensing authorities enabled an industry that could have collapsed to be licensed lawfully and efficiently, meeting the highest standards of safety and service, often at very reasonable cost, due to scale of economy.
Most recently Transport for London (TfL) had a catastrophic cyber security breach, alongside the introduction of new technology for licensing that, to be frank, was not fit for purpose.
The TfL system failings brought licensing to a standstill, emergency service basis, with periods when no new drivers were being licensed and existing PHV drivers were unable to renew. Without Out of Area Licensing like Wolverhampton being lawful and efficient, many drivers would have faced ruin, with operators facing the collapse of their businesses.
Delays were so bad that TfL Taxi and Private Hire (TPH) to their credit have introduced a ‘goodwill payment’ of up to £500 to taxi and PHV drivers affected by the licensing delays. This is very welcome but no substitute for being able to get licensed elsewhere, holding onto your business, vehicle and even home, so Wolverhampton and other Out of Area Licensing authorities provided a much-needed lawful service, answering the Why Wolverhampton? question.
Pro Driver - www.prodrivermags.com Pro Driver - Steve Wright's article