Wolverhampton, dubbed the "taxi capital" of the UK due to licensing nearly 33,900 private hire vehicles - 96% of which operate outside the city - has revealed 17 reports of alleged sexual assault or rape against its licensed drivers within a three-month period.

The figures, obtained via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by a London-based taxi driver and reported by the BBC, covered the period between August 11 and November 11. Nine of the 17 alleged assaults were related to passengers.

A spokesperson for City of Wolverhampton Council defended the city's licensing regime, stating the rate of reports against their drivers was lower than many other licensing authorities. They stressed that "Safeguarding is our number one priority in taxi licensing, and we adhere to all standards as set by government."

Addressing the allegations, the council spokesperson added:

• "None of these drivers had a criminal conviction on their records when their licence was issued."

• "Once aware of the allegations, we ensured all drivers surrendered their licence within one working day."

• "Our policy is not to grant licences to anyone with a sexual offence or on a barred list. Our application process includes vigorous checks, and we are the only licensing authority to carry out daily DBS checks on all of our drivers."

Mark White, the London black cab driver who submitted the FOI, raised serious concerns about Wolverhampton-licensed drivers operating in other areas, fearing safety checks might be missed and vehicles could be unsafe. "I've seen shocking images, of tyres being worn out, of drivers not getting checked because they're not in the area," he said, adding: "This situation is untenable for passengers, for legitimate drivers, and for licensing authorities trying to maintain safety standards."

The council responded by detailing its proactive enforcement, stating: "Public safety is of paramount importance to us - we undertake compliance operations throughout the year, across the country, including Friday and Saturday nights... Officers are equipped with laser tyre-tread readers to tackle illegal tyres, as well as infra-red cameras to detect ghost plates."

Wolverhampton’s rapid growth in licensing—tripling from 10,768 vehicles in 2020 to 33,893 in 2025 - has led to widespread criticism. Mayors and councils across the country, including Greater Manchester's Andy Burnham, have called for an end to "out-of-town" taxi licensing, with Burnham claiming this poses a safety risk and is unfair to locally licensed operators.

Mr. White called the situation "a real national scandal," fearing that any cap on private hire vehicles in London would simply lead drivers to "shut up shop and operate outside London and drive in."

City of Wolverhampton Council's Chief Operating Officer, David Pattison, explained the high popularity was due to an "efficient system" and competitive fees. He strongly rejected the suggestion of lower standards: "It is definitely not standards. We are really proud... our guidelines relating to relevance of convictions - our standards for fit and proper - are stronger than the DfT's guidance."

A Wolverhampton council spokesperson added that they have called on the government for urgent law reform, stating: "We stress that it is illegal for the council to refuse applicants a taxi licence on the basis of where they live."

The debate comes as the government announced the DfT would shortly be launching a consultation on plans to make local transport authorities responsible for taxi and PHV licensing.

It said the proposals would reduce the number of licensing authorities from 263 to 70 "to help further increase consistency in standards".

• Share on Facebook
• Share to X