Number of cabbies in West Midlands and Staffordshire falls by 1,000
One thousand fewer taxi drivers are on the streets of the West Midlands and Staffordshire since the recession – the first drop in eight years, new statistics have shown.
It comes despite repeated calls by cabbies for a cap on the number of licences issued as they complain there is not enough work to go around.
The figures are similar all over the country as the Department For Transport said the recession had resulted in a drop in the number of Hackney carriages and private hire licences since 2011.
In the West Midlands the overall number of licences of all types dropped from 15,866 to 15,076.
In Staffordshire the drop was from 2,693 to 2,461 with Stafford losing 170 of the 415 taxi drivers that were registered in 2011. Wyre Forest saw a drop from 225 to 200.
Walsall and Sandwell both bucked the trend with increases while in Dudley the overall drop was only six.
The recession resulted in a slight drop in the number of black cab licences in Wolverhampton, from 220 down to 212, even though drivers have been complaining that there are too many.
Parminder Sekhon, chairman of the Wolverhampton Taxi Owners Association, said: "It's got to the point where drivers cannot make a living by doing just one job.
"We've had cases of people paying fees to private hire companies to work for them as well.
"In Wolverhampton the council is going to start letting people register older vehicles which will mean even more people can get licences.
"We also have to deal with drivers registered in other areas, where the licences are cheaper, coming into Wolverhampton to get trade."
In its official report the DfT said: "This is the first reduction in overall licensed vehicle numbers since comparable statistics were first collected in 2005 and growth in vehicles has slowed considerably since the start of the economic downturn.
"The recent levelling off is similar to that seen in the early 1990s, another period of economic downturn."
The figures show that the number of taxi licences in Cannock Chase fell from 327 to 305 over the past two years.
In Lichfield the drop was from 171 down to 160.
South Staffordshire had 300 licences in 2011 but currently has 246.
Dudley fell from 1,222 to 1,216.
There were increases in Walsall from 1,388 in 2011 to 1,445 in 2013.
And in Sandwell the figure also rose from 1,443 to 1,508. However, there was a drop across the West Midlands as a whole.
