Telford & Wrekin Council officers have been granted the power to inspect hundreds of taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) licensed by Wolverhampton Council.
The power allows Telford's licensing officers to stop and, if necessary, suspend any Wolverhampton-licensed vehicles "that are found to be unsafe or potentially dangerous." Following such action, a report will be sent to Wolverhampton Council for follow-up actions.
A report to be presented to councillors on Monday (October 20) reveals that 343 private hire vehicle drivers with a Telford address are licensed by Wolverhampton Council. In addition, there are 405 private hire drivers who have an address in the borough who are licensed by Telford & Wrekin Council.
There are also 512 private hire and hackney carriage proprietors in Telford & Wrekin, with 237 of them having a Wolverhampton address.
The report confirms the agreement, stating: “On October 7, the licensing authority received confirmation that our licensing and night-time economy officers have been granted delegated authorisations by Wolverhampton Council, which permits councils to discharge functions on behalf of another authority.”
Telford & Wrekin Council's regulatory committee has been asked to reciprocate by granting Wolverhampton Council the same authority over Telford-registered taxis and PHVs operating in Wolverhampton.
Officials argue that it is “considered sensible for the council to reciprocally authorise Wolverhampton licensing officers to undertake the same enforcement of Telford & Wrekin licensed private hire and hackney carriages operating within the city of Wolverhampton.”
Failing to grant this reciprocal power would be “contrary to the Department for Transport’s best practice guidance”and could lead to the withdrawal of the authority recently granted to Telford.
The report warns that this "would prevent us from suspending any Wolverhampton-licensed vehicles operating within the borough of Telford that are deemed unfit, thereby increasing the risk to public safety."
Warwick District Council’s licensing team recently collaborated with the City of Wolverhampton's Compliance Department to conduct inspections on 27 PHVs operating in Leamington.
Mohammed Yamin, 55, a taxi driver from Newport, has been ordered to pay back £128,409 after being caught transporting 2kg of "high-purity cocaine" in his cab.
Duncan Beattie, 77, pleaded guilty to driving without "due care and attention" after striking a four-year-old child at a pedestrian crossing.
Please remember that you are only permitted to wait for customers on authorised taxi ranks and are not permitted to form an ‘illegal rank’ in a non-specified area.
Mr. Willder booked a night-time taxi from Veezu and described the driver’s initial reaction: "He refused and said, 'I'm not allowing any dogs into my car'."
Paul Sheward, 38, has been sentenced to six years and four months in prison at Worcester Crown Court for a knifepoint robbery and assault on a taxi driver.
A recent public survey on Darlington Borough Council's updated taxi policy found that "64% of respondents backed installing cameras."
The largest proposed increase is 9.5%, which "could see the cost of a Tariff 3 journey of 10 miles rise by more than £4 over the Christmas and New Year holidays."
Taxi drivers in Witney are "furious" about the Oxfordshire County Council's proposed Witney "highway improvements" scheme, specifically the plan to drastically reduce the main taxi rank in Market Square.
The incident began around 11pm when officers attempted to stop a Kia Niro taxi that drove through a road closure at the junction of Bold Lane and Broad Lane.
The operation, part of the upcoming 'Dark Nights' initiative to improve road safety, focused on targeted checks of taxis and PHVs travelling to and from the city.
Edwin Youll, a 63-year-old unlicensed taxi driver from Normanby, has been sentenced to 32 years in prison at Teesside Crown Court on monday 13 October, for a string of violent sexual offences.
Police Scotland objected to the application, stating they felt Scot Craig was “not a fit and proper person” for the role.
The council plans to increase the flag-down fee during the day by 60p, moving it from £3.20 to £3.80. At night and on Sundays, the initial fee will rise to £5.70.
During the robbery, the 59-year-old driver was threatened, chased out of his car, and had his work mobile phone stolen, which was later recovered.
The drivers allege that fines result from NCP's "own system" and "terrible" camera recognition.
They received a certificate of appreciation from the Mayor of Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council thanking them for all the free work they do supporting their local community
The Transport Committee has released its agenda for the first panel session on Wednesday 15 October.
The 6-week community conversation marks the beginning of a journey to bring together services following Local Government Reorganisation in 2023 which joined 4 councils under a single authority.