TfL Ref: FOI-2720-2425

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 24^th November 2024 asking for information about Private Hire Vehicle licensing.

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

Specifically you asked:

“1. What is the average time for a license to be issued to an applicant who has provided on time all the necessary elements and fees without any gaps, missing documents or delays and passed the topographical test? 

2. How many new Private Hire Driver's licenses (excluding renewals) have been issued to persons who applied from of 22/05/2024 to date? 

3. How many Private Hire driver's licenses have been issued to persons who successfully passed the Topographical assessment as of 23/08/2024 to date?

4. What is the progress status for my application?

5. I raised a complaint with TfL regarding this issue and received a reply on 15th October from Faustina Pusuo TfL Licensing CSR. I was only told vital check is getting and again to be patient, i have friends that had passed exams after have received their and i’m yet to get a proper response from your department 

6. Since your department for Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles is not accessible by phone as it used to be in the past although on TfL site they claim to have a phone line, since there is no other way of contacting them except an email address and since their only reply to the emails I ve been sending for months now is a copy- paste " Your application is undergoing a full assessment " and " Thank you for your patience " without making any trouble to explain what and why is happening, please let me know how and to whom I can escalate my complaint about this unfair situation and which authority is overseeing /regulating the specific department.”

I can confirm that we hold the information you require. However, I am afraid that it is not possible to source the information to answer your questions within the costs limit for responding to FOI cases, as set out under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. Under section 12, TfL is not required to provide information if it would cost more than £450 to determine if the requested information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract it from elsewhere. This is calculated at a rate of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work.

In this instance the exemption applies because there is no quick, efficient or automated way of sourcing it. For example, in relation to Question 1, to calculate the average time to process applications we would have to manually review each individual application to ascertain when it was submitted and when it was completed, and work out how long each such application took, and then calculate the average of all such applications combined. Given the numbers involved (we receive around 1,000 applications a week) it is not possible to achieve this within the costs limit for any reasonable time period. Even for a relatively short period such as the last month, this would equate to around 4,000 applications. It is not possible to review that number of applications individually, extract the necessary information, and then carry out the necessary calculations within 18 hours (even at an ambitious rate of one application every two minutes, reviewing 4,000 cases would take over 130 hours, vastly in excess of the 18 hour threshold). Answering your further questions would then take additional time.

Note that the licence application process is multi-staged and often iterative, which can involve requests for further information or clarity from applicants. There are also a number of elements in the licensing process that are outside of TfL’s control, such as the completion of an enhanced DBS check and submission of any required medical information. For these reasons the processing of applications may take longer than expected. Other factors may also extend the time required to process applications, including the following (again, many of which are outside of TfL’s control): 

• Applications being submitted but found to be incomplete or inaccurate
• Checking that an applicant meets the mandatory requirements for licensing, such as the right to work in the U.K, and that they hold the relevant driving licence and driving experience
• Consideration of the applicant’s medical fitness and whether they meet the DVLA’s Group 2 standard of medical fitness to drive. This may include a full review of the applicant’s medical history by our medical advisors
• Ensuring that the applicant’s character meets the required standard, including a review of the results of an enhanced DBS check
• The candidate successfully completing the required assessments of their topographical skills and safety, equality and regulatory understanding (SERU) and completed of an English language speaking and listening test

For any questions about the application process or further information about the status of your specific application you can contact our Taxi and Private Hire Team at [email protected]

If an applicant or licensee is unhappy, the route to complain is set out here: https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/contact-taxis-and-private-hire#on-this-page-3 

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely,

David Wells

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London