A new report by the BBC highlights growing tensions between UK councils over taxi and private hire licensing, with Liverpool’s leadership calling for tougher national standards to address what it sees as unfair and unsafe practices.
The leader of Liverpool City Council, Liam Robinson, said he has had “frank conversations” with the leader of Wolverhampton City Council over the number of taxis licensed there but operating in other cities, including Liverpool.
Robinson welcomed government proposals to tighten the rules around “out-of-area” taxi licensing, describing them as “a step in the right direction” that would make the system “safer and fairer”. He said some Liverpool drivers were being “undercut” by drivers licensed by councils with what he described as “less stringent” requirements.
He also revealed he had invited Wolverhampton’s council leader to visit Liverpool on a busy Friday or Saturday night to see the impact on the city first-hand.
According to figures cited by the BBC, up to 96% of taxi driver licences issued by Wolverhampton between April 2023 and the end of March 2024 were granted to people living outside the city.
A spokesperson for Wolverhampton City Council told the BBC that current legislation makes it illegal for councils to impose limits on the number of private hire licences they issue. They said that if an application meets the required criteria, it must be granted. The spokesperson added that applicants are free to apply to any licensing authority and that many choose Wolverhampton because of its early adoption of digital systems and what it called an “efficient, yet rigorous” licensing process.
Speaking on BBC Radio Merseyside, Robinson described the current system as “a real patchwork quilt”, adding:
“The standards here in Liverpool rightfully are very high – we want to see those standards nationally brought up to our level.”
He also said he wanted councils to have clearer powers to carry out checks and enforcement on taxis licensed in other local authority areas.
DM Commentary
This BBC report underlines a problem that has been building for years. Councils like Liverpool argue they invest heavily in higher standards, while drivers licensed elsewhere can legally operate in the city under different rules.
Rather than lowering standards to create uniformity, Liverpool’s stance is that national rules should be lifted to match the highest-performing authorities. If government reforms do move in this direction, the key question will be enforcement. Giving councils real powers over out-of-area vehicles could be crucial, but only if applied consistently across the country.
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