The National Private Hire and Taxi Association is once again updating our records; this survey is for the purpose of gathering your most up to date numbers of licences granted by your licensing authority. The last information we gained by way of our national survey was from the end of 2016; we are certain the numbers have changed since that date. May we ask that you advise us of the following:- Total number of hackney carriage driver licences: Total number of private hire driver licences: Number of private hire operator licences: Number of private hire vehicles on each operator fleet (if known): Hackney carriage vehicle licences: Private hire vehicle licences: Number of wheelchair accessible vehicles: Taxi ………………. Private Hire …………………. Do you have a vehicle age restriction/policy? Please give details.

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TfL Ref: FOI-2029-1920

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 1^st October 2019 asking for information about licensed taxi and private hire vehicle operators.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. 

I can confirm that we hold the information you require. Your questions are answered in turn below:

Question 1:  Total number of hackney carriage driver licences:

Answer: 22,832 (as of 20^th October 2019). Note that this data (and that for questions 2, 3, 5 and 6) is published on our website here:  https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing/licensing-information

Question 2:  Total number of private hire driver licences:

Answer: 107,674.

Question 3:  Number of private hire operator licences:

Answer: 2,152.

Question 4:  Number of private hire vehicles on each operator fleet (if known):

Answer: This information is exempt from disclosure under sections 41 (“Information provided in confidence”) and 43(2) (“prejudice to commercial interests) of the FOI Act. In this instance the section 41 exemption has been applied as disclosure of the information you have requested was provided to TfL by a third party (the private operators) in confidence. The information is not in the public domain, and there was not a reasonable expectation that the withheld information would be made public by TfL. Therefore we consider that disclosure would constitute an actionable breach of confidence. We also consider that the section 43(2) exemption also applies as disclosure of vehicle numbers per operator would allow those operators to see data about their competitors’ fleet sizes. This would provide an insight into other company’s operations which would be of commercial interest to other operators, potentially to their competitors detriment. As a “qualified” exemption, the use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned. We recognise the need for openness and transparency by public authorities, but in this instance the section 43(2) exemption has been applied as it would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of private hire operators, and enable their competitors to access useful information about them which would potentially reduce the competitiveness of the private hire market. This could ultimately have a bearing on the value for money private hire vehicle users may expect to achieve from using the service and may overall negatively affect market forces shaping the private hire business in London. Note that an Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) decision in a similar case has previously been taken in our favour, which can be viewed via the following link: https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-taken/decision-notices/2017/2172517/fs50676040.pdf

Question 5:  Hackney carriage vehicle licences:

Answer: 19,109.

Question 6:  Private hire vehicle licences:

Answer: 92,492.

Question 7:  Number of wheelchair accessible vehicles: Taxi ………………. Private Hire ………………….

Answer: Taxi = all 19,109 vehicles are wheelchair accessible. Private hire = 583 (data correct as of 7^th October 2019). Note that the data is published regularly on our website here (see the spreadsheet about halfway down the page):

https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/passengers-and-accessibility

Question 8:  Do you have a vehicle age restriction/policy? Please give details.

Yes – the information can be found on our website here:

Private hire = www.tfl.gov.uk/green-phvs

Taxis = www.tfl.gov.uk/green-taxis

In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any 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,

David Wells

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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