THE City of Wolverhampton Council has hit back at criticism levelled by a Bolton councillor over the body’s licensing of taxis.

The response comes after Bolton Council's executive member for environmental services Nick Peel, this week, called on the Government to close a “dangerous” legal loophole allowing private hire vehicles licensed by other local authorities to operate on the streets of Bolton and Greater Manchester.

Cllr Peel said that the licensing operation of The City of Wolverhampton Council has caused “a lot of concern” at Bolton Council, adding that it is “wrong” if drivers who have their licenses revoked in the town can “go to another authority with a lower standard and then come to Bolton”.

His comments follow reports last year that councillors in the West Midlands had criticised The City of Wolverhampton Council for operating a “more lenient” licensing system for private hire drivers.

The councillors claimed that cabbies were heading to the area due to these circumstances, allegedly undermining public safety in the region.

The situation is also thought to have resulted in hundreds perhaps thousands of taxi and private hire vehicle drivers licensed in Wolverhampton working on the streets of other towns and cities including in Bolton and Greater Manchester.

Cllr Peel said: “This is a problem and it’s happening all over Greater Manchester.

“We have been calling for the Government to introduce new rules to say that you can only be licensed by the authority in the area that you live or by neighbouring authorities, or that there is national minimum standard that applies. Because unless they do something about this the loophole will continue to be ruthlessly exploited.”

Responding to Cllr Peel’s comments, Councillor Alan Bolshaw, chairman of City of Wolverhampton Council’s licensing committee, said: “We have the best licensing system in the country, we have utilised technology to cut out needless red tape and bureaucracy meaning that we have reduced the amount of time it takes to process licence applications.

“This has made us the licensing authority of choice for many drivers. We are not exploiting any loopholes, the Deregulation Act changed the way people can apply for licences.

“We have a robust and thorough assessment process which is as good as anywhere in the country.

“It is unfortunate that other councils continue to criticise us, it seems to me they are trying to deflect attention away for their failure to modernise and keep pace with a changing industry.

“I would urge anyone with any concerns to come and talk to us about what we do.”

However Cllr Peel further criticised Wolverhampton Council for their desire for speed and popularity in relation to licensing, adding that the lengthier time taken by Bolton Council to process licences comes from an effort to gather increased information about driver suitability.

He said: “The primary purpose of a Licensing Authority is public safety, not a quick turnaround of processing new applications.

"The so-called red tape that is mentioned includes, in Bolton’s case, the fact that we liaise with the police on a regular basis, which often brings new information to the attention of our licensing authority that could question the suitability of the driver. If this makes the processing system longer, then it is a price worth paying.

"There seems to be no logical reason for any licensing authority wishing to be the “licensing authority of choice” for all drivers throughout Britain, often including those drivers that have been refused a license in their home towns. Bolton residents should rightly expect that the taxi they get into in Bolton is licensed by Bolton, or a neighbouring authority, not one that is located 90 miles away.

"In addition, licensing fees cannot be an income generator for a local council, as they must legally only cover the cost of that service, and the account should not seek to create a surplus by attracting new applicants.”