A councillor has said he is surprised by a huge rise in the number of taxi licences refused by Buckinghamshire Council.
Between October 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024, the authority rejected 53 applications for new licences compared to the 20 refused during the same period last year – an increase of 165 per cent.
The data was presented to a meeting of the council’s licensing committee on Thursday where Cllr Nick Southworth said the spike in licence refusals was ‘staggeringly high’.
He asked whether the rise was down to new processes or just an ‘inundation of inappropriate candidates’.
The council’s principal licensing officer Simon Gallacher said officers did not have a ‘conclusive answer’ to what was behind the rise but said there had also been an increase in complaints.
He said: “That may have possibly something to do with it. We have made some improvements to our reporting procedures to make it easier for people to report online. So, that might be one element to it.”
Lindsay Vallis, the service director for integrated transport, said the council undertook a ‘significant’ level of investigative and enforcement activity.
During the meeting, councillors voted to increase taxi fees to coincide with the council’s draft budget, which cabinet approved last week and will be ratified at full council next month.
The new schedule of taxi fees will see a new three-year licence go from £368 to £387, while a new five-year licence for an operator with one vehicle will go from £593 to £623.
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