“Wolverhampton Council licensing practices driving down private hire wages with the saturation of the market threatens the entire private hire industry”
Urgent action is needed, warns GMB.
A new study shows Wolverhampton Council has granted nearly 90% of all new private taxi licenses issued for the entire Midlands region so far this year
GMB Union has called on Wolverhampton Council to do more to protect the private hire driver’s standard of living. The data reveals Wolverhampton issued 8,563 licenses between January and May of 2024 which is more than 87 percent of the new licenses issued in the East and West Midlands.
Birmingham is five times larger than Wolverhampton yet Wolverhampton issued five times more licenses.
Kate Gorton, GMB Organiser, said:
“Wolverhampton’s private hire license dominance is a well-documented phenomenon.
“But the fact remains that Private Hire Licenses give thousands of working people their income every month, including GMB members across the Midlands.
“More and more drivers report a flooded marketplace is pushing down income.
“The imbalance between supply and demand is meaning drivers are waiting for longer between jobs and are forced to compete with inflated competition.
“Wolverhampton bosses rightly point out barriers to capping application – but we’ve got one council essentially issuing licenses for the rest of the whole region.
“The saturation of the market threatens the entire industry.
“We need urgent action to ensure standardization across licensing authorities, in terms of price, testing, and timescales and Wolverhampton has a key role to play in making sure that happens.”
