APPLICATIONS to be a taxi driver in Bradford are at “an all-time high” – with 1,893 new applications since April.

But this high number, and a shortage of staff in Bradford Council, means many of these drivers are facing delays in getting a licence.

Members of Bradford Council’s Corporate Scrutiny Committee were given an update on Bradford’s Private Hire and Hackney Carriage service at a meeting on Thursday.

The report said the district currently has 5,207 private hire drivers, 3,686 private hire vehicles and 111 private hire operators.

There are 303 Hackney carriage drivers and 213 Hackney carriage vehicles.

A report into the service said: “New driver applications are at an all-time high. Progress can vary, often depending on the personal circumstances of the applicant.

“Since April, 1,893 new driver applications have been ongoing and these are at various stages such as awaiting documentation from customer, waiting for DBS certificates and waiting to complete a driver standards assessment.

“There are currently 802 ongoing applications of which we are awaiting required documentation from the customer so the officer can progress to interview stage.”

It added: “We are experiencing extremely high numbers of new driver applications which means that applicants are waiting for a longer period of time for their application to be progressed.”

At the meeting Carol Stos, Licensing Service Manager, said: “There is a real backlog of new applications. New applications are taking a long time. At the moment we’re working on applications from September and October.”

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She said the team dealing with applications was currently “short-staffed.”

When asked how many of the newly licensed vehicles were compliant with Bradford’s Clean Air Zone, she said while she didn’t have an exact figure, the number was “very high” adding “there aren’t many taxis in Bradford that aren’t". 

When asked why so many people were applying in Bradford, she told members Leeds had also seen an increase in people applying to become taxi drivers.

She said: “We’re relatively cheap compared to other authorities.”

Members were also told that CAZ-compliant vehicles can be licensed until they are 15 years’ old – and the ability to operate a single vehicle for this period may be attractive to many drivers.

Referring to complaints about taxi drivers, Mrs Stos said most companies worked with the Council to resolve any issues at an early stage.

She added: “The most recent issue is mobile phone offences. The law has recently changed – it is much tougher if you use a mobile phone while you’re a professional driver.”