TPH Drivers
Request ID: FOI-1494-2021
Date published: 03 December 2020
You asked
1. The total number private hire drivers currently licensed by Transport for London (“drivers”); including a breakdown of the results by reference to the drivers’: (a) ethnicity, (b) gender and (c) primary and secondary (where applicable) nationality.
2. The total number private hire vehicle operators currently licensed by Transport for London (“operators”); including a breakdown of the results by reference to (a) the number of drivers contracted with the respective operators; (b) the owner/controller of the respective operators’: (i) ethnicity, (ii) gender and (iii) primary and secondary (where applicable) nationality.
3. The total number of drivers categorised as employees and workers within the meaning of section 230(1) and section 230(3)(a) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and associated legislation (limb ‘a‘ workers); including a breakdown of the results by reference to the drivers’: (a) ethnicity, (b) gender and (c) primary and secondary (where applicable) nationality.
4. The total number of drivers categorised as workers within the meaning of section 230(3)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and associated legislation (limb ‘b‘ workers); including a breakdown of the results by reference to the drivers’: (a) ethnicity, (b) gender and (c) primary and secondary (where applicable) nationality.
5. The total number of drivers categorised as self-employed (independent contractors); including a breakdown of the results by reference to the drivers’: (a) ethnicity, (b) gender and (c) primary and secondary (where applicable) nationality.
6. The total number of operators which treat their contracted drivers as: (a) employees and workers within the meaning set out at paragraph 3 above; (b) workers within the meaning set out at paragraph 4 above; and (c) self employed within the meaning set out at paragraph 5 above.
7. Details of processes, practices, safeguards or customs used assess, determine and objectively verify whether an applicant for an operator’s licence does not, or does not propose to unlawfully misclassifying the employment status of their contracted driver(s). For example, by unlawfully misclassifying employees or workers as self employed (independent contractors).
8. Details of all processes, procedures, policies or customs applicable where a driver engaged in a contractual relationship with an operator and treated as self-employed, filed a legal claim against the respective operator alleging misclassification of their employment status. Particularly where the respective operator is similarly or equally engaged with a fleet of drivers who may not have filed a legal claim against the respective operator organisation alleging misclassification of employment status.
9. For each year between 2014 to 2020, the total number of: (a) operators subject to legal a claim(s) against them by a driver(s) alleging misclassification of employment status; (b) operators subjected by Transport for London to suspension or restriction of their operator’s licence as a result of: (i) a legal claim(s) filed against it by a driver(s) alleging unlawful misclassification of employment status; and (ii) a judicial
judgment(s) (including those subject to appeal) holding that the operator unlawfully misclassified the employment status of its driver(s); and (c) drivers affected or potentially affected by actual or potential misclassification of employment status based on legal claims filed against operator alleging the same; including a breakdown of the results by reference to the drivers’: (i) ethnicity, (ii) gender and (iii) primary and
secondary (where applicable) nationality.
10. Details of all processes, procedures, policies or customs implemented to protect drivers and passengers from risk of exposure to COVID-19 during the course of the drivers’ performance of their licensed activities.
11. Details of all processes, procedures, policies or customs used to identify and/or determine whether any actual or potential contraventions of the Equality Act 2010 (including direct or indirect discrimination) have or may be perpetrated against a driver(s) by: (a) an operator; and/or (b) Transport for London; particularly such contraventions arising as a result of misclassification of the employment status of the driver(s).
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-1494-2021
Thank you once again for your request asking for information about taxi private hire (TPH) drivers.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and TfL’s information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require.
Unfortunately, to provide the information you have requested would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a request if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described.
We have estimated that it would cost in excess of £450 to provide a response to your current request. This is because it is estimated that it would take over 18 working hours to retrieve and compile the information you have requested. The information you have requested is not held centrally and we would have to run several reports in order to provide the information required.
To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider narrowing its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. At present, the main issue we have with providing the information you have required is the breakdown by nationality. Removing this part of your request will hopefully allow us to process the rest of your request.
Please note that we will not be taking further action until we receive your revised request.
If you are considering submitting a further FOI request please think carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by the current situation.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
[email protected]
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