In response to FOI-1672-1819, TfL noted that in September 2018, the processing time for PHV licence renewals was then nine days. Could you give the processing times for PHV driver licence renewals submitted in 2019. If, as you responded to FOI-1672-1819, you are unable to provide information on average processing times, could you give the actual processing times for PHV driver licence renewals at monthly snapshots for 2019 to date. Could you also provide details of the number of applications, as a proportion of total applications, which take longer than three months to process. Could you also give details of the number of PHV driver licence renewal applications that are currently outstanding and a breakdown of how long these applications have been in the review process. Many thanks.

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TfL Ref: FOI-1794-1920

Thank you for your email received by Transport for London (TfL) on 16 September 2019.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we hold some of the information you require. You asked:

In response to FOI-1672-1819, TfL noted that in September 2018, the processing time for PHV licence renewals was then nine days. Could you give the processing times for PHV driver licence renewals submitted in 2019. If, as you responded to FOI-1672-1819, you are unable to provide information on average processing times, could you give the actual processing times for PHV driver licence renewals at monthly snapshots for 2019 to date.

Please see below the average number of days to process a renewal PHV applications in 2019.

2019 Month	Average number of week days to process a renewal PHV driver application
Jan	35
Feb	34
Mar	32
Apr	30
May	34
Jun	35
Jul	35
Aug	35
Sep	35

Could you also provide details of the number of applications, as a proportion of total applications, which take longer than three months to process.

A total of 29.7 per cent of applications in this period took longer than three months to process.

Please note that the licence application process is complex, multi-staged and often iterative, and often involves requests for further information or clarity from applicants. The time taken for licensing decisions to be made depends on individual applications. For example, the time required to process an application may increase as a consequence of:

• Applications being incomplete or inaccurate;
• TfL awaiting the disclosure and/or results of an applicant’s Disclosure and Barring Service assessment;
• Applicants taking time to pass the topographical skills assessment (private hire only); and/or
• Medical fitness assessments giving rise to further queries.

Could you also give details of the number of PHV driver licence renewal applications that are currently outstanding and a breakdown of how long these applications have been in the review process.

As of 28 Sept 2019, 3,937 renewal private hire applications are awaiting a licensing decision. Regarding the further breakdown, unfortunately we are unable to answer it as it is not clear if you are asking for a list of every outstanding application (new and renewal) and how long each has taken so far. If you can please clarify this for us we will look into it further.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Eva Hextall

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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