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GMB calls for tighter taxi licensing

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Uttlesford has 18 cabs per 1000 residents and is highest in the south and east of England where the average for England is 5.1 per 1000 new GMB study shows.

We are supporting a lobby at TUC Congress in Brighton on Monday 11th September calling for rules on cabs working outside the licensed area and other aspects of licensing to be tightened up says GMB Southern

The number of Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs) in Uttlesford (Stansted Airport) is 18 per 1,000 people, the highest in the South and East of England.

London is next with 12.4 per 1,000 people followed by Windsor and Maidenhead with 7.8, Woking with 7.1, Crawley with 7.1, Epping Forest with 7, Reigate and Banstead with 6.9 and Aylesbury Vale with 6.8.

England and Wales has an average of 5 Taxis and PHVs per 1,000 people. London, as a whole, has 12.4 per 1,000 people. The East of England and the South East has 3.3 per 1,000 people and South West has 2.7.

The lowest number of Taxis and PHVs are found in Breckland with 1.1 per 1,000 people. Next are Horsham, Maldon and Mid Suffolk with 1.4 followed by Wokingham, Suffolk Coastal and Fenland with 1.5.

The lobby in favour of reform of cab legislation organised by GMB National Officer Mick Rix will take place outside Brighton Conference Centre, King’s Road at 11am on Monday 11th September. National standards need to be introduced that would guarantee safety and accessibility, updating regulations to keep pace with technological change and ensuring a level playing field between operators.

Set out in the table below are the figures for total licensed vehicles in London, East of England, South East and Dorset and Wiltshire.

The tables have been compiled by GMB Southern region, see notes to editors for sources and definitions.

    Total taxis and PHV licensed vehicles Licensed taxis and PHVs per 1,000 people
       
  England and Wales 290,884 5
  England 281,029 5.1
       
  London 108,709 12.4
  East of England 19,932 3.3
  South East 30,201 3.3
  South West 14,632 2.7
rank      
1 Uttlesford 1,551 18
2 London 108,709 12.4
3 Windsor and Maidenhead 1,156 7.8
4 Woking 712 7.1
5 Crawley 788 7.1
6 Epping Forest 911 7
7 Reigate and Banstead 1,005 6.9
8 Aylesbury Vale 1,322 6.8
9 South Cambridgeshire 985 6.3
10 South Oxfordshire 827 6
11 Portsmouth 1,279 6
12 Havant 738 6
13 Epsom and Ewell 479 6
14 Three Rivers 500 5.4
15 Reading 865 5.3
16 Luton 1,096 5.1
17 Hertsmere 524 5.1
18 Eastbourne 529 5.1
19 Watford 478 4.9
20 Slough 709 4.8
21 Tonbridge and Malling 602 4.7
22 Swindon 1,018 4.7
23 Oxford 692 4.3
24 Weymouth and Portland 282 4.3
25 Brentwood 318 4.2
26 Eastleigh 547 4.2
27 Christchurch 206 4.2
28 Bedford 691 4.1
29 Peterborough 779 4
30 Huntingdonshire 703 4
31 Norwich 555 3.9
32 Hastings 360 3.9
33 Ipswich 518 3.8
34 Thanet 529 3.8
35 Southampton 936 3.7
36 Cambridge 480 3.6
37 Colchester 681 3.6
38 Rochford 310 3.6
39 Brighton and Hove 1,032 3.6
40 Great Yarmouth 349 3.5
41 St Edmundsbury 397 3.5
42 Milton Keynes 887 3.4
43 Guildford 508 3.4
44 Lewes 344 3.4
45 St Albans 487 3.3
46 Stevenage 289 3.3
47 Harlow 288 3.3
48 Wycombe 561 3.2
49 Vale of White Horse 402 3.1
50 Dartford 326 3.1
51 Chiltern 285 3
52 Wealden 467 3
53 West Oxfordshire 310 2.9
54 Hart 275 2.9
55 Elmbridge 387 2.9
56 Medway 798 2.9
57 Broxbourne 273 2.8
58 Welwyn Hatfield 341 2.8
59 Basildon 515 2.8
60 Forest Heath 172 2.7
61 Cherwell 400 2.7
62 East Hampshire 321 2.7
63 Canterbury 435 2.7
64 Sevenoaks 316 2.7
65 Bournemouth 530 2.7
66 Dacorum 397 2.6
67 Adur 166 2.6
68 Mid Sussex 381 2.6
69 Worthing 286 2.6
70 Central Bedfordshire 700 2.5
71 South Bucks 172 2.5
72 Bracknell Forest 294 2.5
73 Basingstoke and Deane 435 2.5
74 Fareham 292 2.5
75 Runnymede 216 2.5
76 Shepway 277 2.5
77 Chichester 296 2.5
78 West Dorset 251 2.5
79 Waveney 277 2.4
80 Southend-on-Sea 433 2.4
81 Castle Point 211 2.4
82 New Forest 439 2.4
83 Rushmoor 236 2.4
84 Surrey Heath 213 2.4
85 Waverley 296 2.4
86 Purbeck 111 2.4
87 North Norfolk 243 2.3
88 Winchester 278 2.3
89 Tunbridge Wells 268 2.3
90 North Dorset 165 2.3
91 Gosport 185 2.2
92 Mole Valley 186 2.2
93 Babergh 185 2.1
94 West Berkshire 332 2.1
95 North Hertfordshire 261 2
96 Tendring 285 2
97 Test Valley 247 2
98 Tandridge 175 2
99 South Norfolk 253 1.9
100 East Hertfordshire 275 1.9
101 Chelmsford 324 1.9
102 Wiltshire 910 1.9
103 East Dorset 171 1.9
104 Broadland 231 1.8
105 East Cambridgeshire 154 1.8
106 Braintree 267 1.8
107 Gravesham 192 1.8
108 Swale 260 1.8
109 Isle of Wight 256 1.8
110 King’s Lynn and West Norfolk 253 1.7
111 Thurrock 282 1.7
112 Dover 194 1.7
113 Maidstone 284 1.7
114 Arun 270 1.7
115 Spelthorne 157 1.6
116 Ashford 196 1.6
117 Rother 154 1.6
118 Poole 247 1.6
119 Fenland 154 1.5
120 Suffolk Coastal 183 1.5
121 Wokingham 239 1.5
122 Mid Suffolk 137 1.4
123 Maldon 90 1.4
124 Horsham 200 1.4
125 Breckland 146 1.1

Paul Maloney, GMB Southern Regional Secretary, said,  “We are supporting a lobby at TUC Congress in Brighton on Monday 11th September calling for rules on cabs working outside the licensed area and other aspects of licensing to be tightened up.

“GMB Southern are pushing for much needed taxi reform legislation as certain councils continue to turn a blind eye to licensing rules and continually ignore cross border issues. We will push to change the culture of ‘wild west’ free for all and aim to give drivers and passengers the respect and national standards they duly deserve.

“The South Coast especially Brighton is being blitzed by out of town, and in the main, by UBER drivers.”

“If there are too many cabs in any area the drivers cannot make a decent living. Equally, if unlicensed drivers and uninsured vehicles are allowed to pick up passengers the public are put at risk. Properly regulated cabs are in everyone’s interest.”

Contact: Paul Maloney on 07801 343839; Michelle Gordon on 07866 369259

Notes to editors:
1) Source: Taxi Licensing Authorities, Office for National Statistics population estimates
www.gov.uk/government/statistics/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicles-statistics-england-2017