Dear Wolverhampton City Council, Please could you provide a list by (name / address / contact details /) . Yours faithfully, ( As of the middle of last month, there were 2,634 applications in the queue, with 1,924 processed but awaiting more information from the applicant. "In terms of my experience working on the front line and from working in some cases, there are some drivers that are predatory. It showed that in 2019 a total of 11,461 applications to Wolverhampton Council came from drivers based in Birmingham, while there were 2,457 from Manchester, 1,926 from Coventry, 1,279 from Leicester, 1,102 from Nottingham and 432 from Telford. Yours faithfully endobj Contact us if you think it should be reopened. and if anyexemptionsapplyto some or all ofthe information then we Customer Engagement Officer Just raise a case and leave feedback after. Across the weekend (Friday 18 December and Saturday 19 December), 27 taxi drivers were issued with enforcement action, including defect notices or suspension of licenses. A total of 170 taxis were inspected by our dedicated Roads Policing Unit, in line with COVID and road safety regulations. A Freedom of Information request found Wolverhampton Council had handed out 15,000 private hire licences in 2019, bringing in nearly 3.7m in fees. City of Wolverhampton Council takes taxi licensing seriously. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. which may be legally privileged and/or subject to the provisions of Putting things right Complaints process Other options Its quick, easy and totally free. u6`QK@E%E%/z( (Q@RPKE QIKHOQL(QKI@J^h mySociety Wolverhampton licensing bosses have insisted they informed relevant authorities when serious reports of crimes were made, but several councils have told the BBC they were unaware of the allegations. (h-! (%P P0PH(h@ vZ( (( Taxi drivers to face extra criminal checks, Taxi driver jailed for sex assault in cab, Taxi licence regulation 'must be tougher', Taxi and private hire vehicle licensing report, Taxi Complaints - City of Wolverhampton Council, Generations of Wolves speedway fans turn out in force to the first meeting since bombshell stadium news, Stourbridge shoppers 'intimidated by aggressive begging' in town centre. This condition empowers officers in other areas and where drivers are breaking the law then other licensing authorities can and do prosecute them. 1 0 obj C " UIE( E-#RQE fQGARPE(EZ())ZNhPKE z 5/4> !P EPER ( ) QE QE QE QE QE QE QE QE QEQE QIP% ((jGIKGz )(J(( _Z)(Z()h)h (((((( ( LEPEPEPEPEPEPEPEPEPEPE RE Wolverhampton then made it very easy to get licenced there, issued tens of thousands of licences for a population of 260,000 and therefore made the standards of private hire taxis slip in the whole country malcster_75 8 mo. Where new information is found, their licence is reviewed. ( Some drivers may have taken on related work as delivery drivers, the report added. J)h )(h (%-PHii(cRHR})sG4sE J`(4QH((EPEPEPEPEPEPEPEPEP2Q[)R <>/OutputIntents[<>] /Metadata 371 0 R/ViewerPreferences 372 0 R>> Councillor Alan Bolshaw, the citys licensing chief, said: Councillor Bird seems to have come quite late to the party. "What is really important is that we make sure we bring the taxi drivers in on this. Enquiries are made with those authorities and any previous complaints considered with the Councils Guidelines. If you hold a current Driver or Vehicle Licence with City of Wolverhampton Council, you will need to register with the "My Licence Portal" to inform of arrests, cautions, charges, convictions and Fixed Penalties as part of your conditions of licence. A Ministry of Transport (MOT) certificate dated no more than 10 days prior to the application date must also be provided. ( Printed from https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/taxi_complaints_4?unfold=1 on May 02, 2023 00:03. Change of Address. (Q@%- QI@EP'4s@. Photo: Wolverhampton Council Drivers gathered outside. Where there is information on the applicants DBS certificate, this is considered in accordance with the Councils Guidelines. Are you the owner of any commercial copyright on this page? ( Read about our approach to external linking. 9 0 obj In the last financial year, the city registered an extra 7,428 drivers, taking the total with a Wolverhampton licence to 26,745. NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email. Yours faithfully 2023 BBC. uKIJ( (C %Z %( _(4 PR@%PK ( ( VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line, Why an Indian comedian is challenging fake news rules. "Since 2015 I know that there have been more complaints over sexual harassment, accidents in taxis and illegal pick-ups, all different things have been going on. Before April 2015, there. Weve helped millions of people find a resolution. CCTV may also be fitted to cars, with an encrypted system so footage could only be accessed if a crime was reported. Run by Volunteers and powered by Alaveteli. the case and advise you of your rights to request an internal review and (( ) ( ( L9@sG4s@4sG4s@4sG4s@sKG4( ((((aEP0(QE( ( (`QE request. has misdirected this e-mail; you must not use, disclose, copy, print or City of Wolverhampton Council takes taxi licensing seriously. [1][Wolverhampton City Council request email] Our reference: 926105, --------------------------------------------------------------------------. The applicant is also checked against the National Anti-Fraud Networks (NAFN) National Register of Refusals, Revocations and Suspensions (NR3S). J((h <> Let us know what you think has gone wrong and how you think we can correct it. Before becoming a driver,. ( Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? 8 0 obj Our reference: 1386425, Response all information to be supplied.pdf, 96K It licences drivers from around the UK including Scotland, Manchester and Nottingham. ( DearL Thompson This request has been closed to new correspondence. ( Wolverhampton Council, Further information about the vehicles and drivers licensed for South Staffordshire are available on ourInformation for Passengers page. Placing members of the public at unnecessary risk by taking a booking without valid insurance is unacceptable.. Resolver is free. Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. ( ( We provide commercial You are now required to show photoID when voting at a polling station at the elections on May 4th. L thompson made this Freedom of Information request to Wolverhampton City Council It will see eligible drivers receive a one-off payment of. The service has never failed an audit. It currently has 4,461 drivers licensed. ZLP J;i Pi(KBR :J((ZJ(RRQE QE Q@ )))hEPEPRI@Rs@)ii(z except where the sender specifically states these to be the views Private hire drivers have been accused of sex crimes over 150 miles away from where they are licensed, Taxi drivers have held protests around the country over cross-border hiring, Taxi drivers in Wolverhampton say they have been protesting about the issue for years. The Council's main objective regarding taxi and private hire licensing are: If you are looking for further information about the requirements, please follow the link toWolverhampton City Council Taxi Licensing. This may only be completed by a General Medical Council (GMC) registered practitioner. It's quick, easy and (best of all) it's free. endobj The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. is a registered charity in England and Wales (1076346) If you are not the intended recipient, an addressing or transmission error Freedom of Information Act 2000 Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? The service also undergoes audit each year. It has granted 35,035 private hire licences since 2017, pumping 8.7m into the authoritys coffers. Under the plans, those with specific previous convictions would face minimum bans "in all but truly exceptional circumstances". We couldnt load the mail server logs for this message. Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. SocietyWorks Ltd We are dealing with yourrequestunder theFreedom of Information Act Where there are motoring convictions, these are also considered against the Councils guidelines. Six of the drivers in the CSE reports had their licences taken from them but the seventh complaint was not upheld. Less teenagers have meningitis protection since before pandemic, Coronation uproar as Birmingham residents react to allegiance pledge with everyone saying same thing, A new independent pizza restaurant is coming to Harborne & its giving away free pizzas, More than 20,000 Russians dead in Bakhmut, US says, France May Day protests leave dozens of police injured, 'Fighter jets are roaring over my home in Sudan'. In 2018-19 Birmingham Council issued 1,768 private hire licences, down 11 per cent on the previous year. It prompted licensing bosses at Wolverhampton Council to streamline its application process and slash the prices of licences leading to a dramatic increase in applications. Are you the owner of any commercial copyright on this page? ( Navdeep Nijjar The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Reports of child sexual exploitation are among allegations made. A total of 927 drivers were said to be waiting for a hearing to determine their application. ( Taxi complaints. 30 March 2022. <> Run by Volunteers and powered by Alaveteli. In Birmingham, where there have been four serious sexual allegations against drivers licensed in Wolverhampton, the council said it was concerned the Deregulation Act had "resulted in a situation where there are many vehicles and drivers in the city over whom the council has no enforcement powers". )i( ( 4G Papers found the situation had emerged since the government in 2015 ruled drivers could register anywhere in the country, not just their local area. )})( %- RJ- K@ J(i)i( ( The request was refused by Wolverhampton City Council. (IKFh I@Q@ E- QE QE QE QE QE QE QE QE QE QE QE RR ( ( ) sG4sH999999( ()i)h( (QE endobj Keep all your correspondence in one place, Go straight to the correct contact point within an organisation, Make use of a series of simple templates to help make raising your complaint as simple and quick as possible, Receive reminders when you get a response from a company or organisation, Get an automatic notification when it's appropriate to escalate your case to the next management level within a company, Package up and send off the whole history of your complaint to an ombudsman or other regulatory body if necessary. This email contains proprietary confidential information some or all of Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Wolverhampton Council hands out 15,000 taxi licences in one year to drivers across UK By Peter Madeley Wolverhampton Transport Published: Jan 10, 2020 Comments Wolverhampton Council. Thank you for your request for information that was received on6 November Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. Wolverhampton Council launched The Additional Restriction Grant - Taxi and Private Hire Grant Scheme to help drivers across the city. Subscribe to one or all notification sources from this one place. At the end of the training programme, there is a written assessment. ( ago EP Importantly, our driver conditions dictate that drivers must cooperate with reasonable requests from compliance staff authorised in other areas. n)=_} bRqHCD@[WP,=|B2Ho|Sc$+! Councillor Philip Page, chairman of the councils regulatory committee, said: We take public safety very seriously at Wolverhampton. But only a small fraction of the new licence holders are operating in the city, with some drivers working hundreds of miles away in Scotland. Taxi drivers 'missing out on Covid . Download complaints against drivers, are less likely to occur in an environment . Governance You therefore need a debit or credit card to make the payment.. You must also complete a DBS application (Criminal Records Check) and provide a DVLA three . View as HTML. Applications from Kilmarnock, Edinburgh, Perth and Kirkcaldy were received by Wolverhampton Council last year, as the authority granted 15,171 licences to extend its dominance over the British private hire market. The Local Democracy Reporting Service said that since the change in the law, Wolverhampton had invested heavily in its digital licensing service, reducing processing time and cost. send you a fee notice and we will require you to pay the fee before Safety and health of drivers and the public; High standards of vehicle safety, comfort and access; Prevention of crime and disorder and the protection of consumers; and, Equality and accessibility in service provision. The vehicle proprietor must be registered with the Information Commissioner's On Tuesday, the Department for Transport announced new proposals for taxi and private hire drivers to have to pass enhanced criminal record checks before being granted a licence. 4 0 obj It is intended solely for the addressee. The city has taken on new staff in a bid to cope with demand, documents say. ( Meanwhile Walsall Council received just 48 new applications for licences last year, when it had a total of 1,129 private hire drivers registered. requested for any other reason together with the reason(s) why and details ( Drivers must undergo medical certification to Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) Group 2 Standards. ( When we receive a complaint, if the problem is something we can put right straight away, we will. Lib Dem campaigner Ian Jenkins, said: The council has turned a vital safety check into a cash cow. Taxi drivers protesting in Wolverhampton last year over the city council's controversial licensing system. We will inform youif this is except where the sender specifically states these to be the views Is climate change killing Australian wine? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the day's top stories sent directly to you. In the last five years the city council has received applications from 325 miles away in Perth a six-hour drive from the city, and 254 miles away in Truro, Cornwall, which takes almost five hours to get to by car. This email contains proprietary confidential information some or all of In May 2017, the chair of Wolverhampton's licensing committee, Alan Bolshaw, wrote to Sajid Javid, who was then Communities and Local Government Secretary, urging him to create a national database of drivers so that adequate background checks could be carried out, even suggesting the council fund it. Councillor Mike Bird, the leader of Walsall Council, said he favoured a change in legislation as the current system was making a mockery of local authority licensing laws. ( Wolverhampton Council handed out a record 15,000 private hire licences last year raking in nearly 3.7 million in fees. A Wolverhampton private hire driver who overcharged a customer, while taking her on an uninsured journey that wasn't pre-booked, has had her licence revoked. (Q@QH((((((((aEP2Sk`(= We use the DBS Update Service to check drivers DBS certificates every day of the week. When questioned by council officers, Ayub, of Broadway, in Shirley, Solihull, said the increased cost was a result of coronavirus. Get started. The customer was charged 15 for a trip to Russells Hall Hospital from her home in Dudley, which is typically priced at 7. City of Wolverhampton Council Taxi Licensing Safeguarding Statement, A face-to-face English assessment (followed by a recorded interview where there are any concerns), Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. We are working with industry leaders, regulators and government to make your voice heard and improve customer service. In response to your request, please see attached our response to your Video, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, Shooting suspect was deported four times - US media, King Charles to wear golden robes for Coronation, More than 100 police hurt in French May Day protests, MasterChef Australia host Jock Zonfrillo dies, Explosion derails train in Russian border region, Street piano confiscated as public 'break rules', Yellen warns US could run out of cash in a month, US rock band Aerosmith announce farewell tour, NFL player's daughter, aged two, drowns in pool. (QA!EPEPEPES ) QE QE NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email. the use of this email or attachments. ( . <> Dear Wolverhampton City Council, Please provide number of complaints received by council in relation to uber taxis from 2015-2019 . ( Resolver is a completely free complaint-resolution tool that puts the British consumer directly in touch with the customer service providers who can resolve their complaint. Ebrahim Suleman, former chairman of West Midlands Private Hire Drivers Association, said "99.9% of drivers" were honest and hard working but a minority used loopholes to get a licence. ( Taxi drivers and council colleagues say farewell to Elaine Moreton (centre) who is retiring at the age of 75 after 39 years' service. ( Write to our Complaints Manager, City of Wolverhampton Council, Civic Centre, St Peter's Square, Wolverhampton, WV1 1RL Ask a friend, a relative, advocate or anyone to contact us your behalf Make sure you give us as much information as possible. Where there are concerns about applicants suspected of involvement in historic child sex exploitation investigations, further vetting is undertaken by the National Crime Agency (NCA). DBS checks are also carried out on vehicle licence applicants, as well as a check that the vehicle is insured for public and/or private hire. Thank you for your request for information received on6 November Video, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, the government said it was tightening taxi safety guidelines, increased the number of licences it issues, sign up for local news updates direct to your phone, Shooting suspect was deported four times - US media, King Charles to wear golden robes for Coronation, More than 100 police hurt in French May Day protests, MasterChef Australia host Jock Zonfrillo dies, Disney faces countersuit in feud with Florida, US rock band Aerosmith announce farewell tour, NFL player's daughter, aged two, drowns in pool, Street piano confiscated as public 'break rules', Yellen warns US could run out of cash in a month.
