Lib Dems back Call for Debate on More Taxis in Leeds (Leeds Liberal Democrats)

Leeds Liberal Democrats <info@leedslibdems.org.uk>

Lib Dems back Call for Debate on More Taxis in Leeds

September 11, 2003 12:00 AM

Councillor Mark Harris, Leader of the Opposition and Liberal Democrat Group on Leeds City Council, has welcomed a call by the Council's Central & Corporate Functions Scrutiny Board for a debate on whether the limit on the number of Taxi Licences in Leeds should be abandoned.

Cllr Harris said :- "The Scrutiny Board's Inquiry has found that the demand for Taxi Licenses in Leeds is so high a plate can change hands for over £30,000. Its obvious that demand exceeds supply, both by observing the rush for new plates whenever the Council offers any and, as anyone who's ever arrived at the Rail Station in the early hours of the morning can tell you, because of the frequent need to wait for an hour in a Taxi Queue when demand is high. It is particularly bad late at night because Leeds has a virtually non-existent late night bus service, with last buses to many areas of the City leaving as early as 11:00 or 11:15pm."

"Currently the Council limits the supply of licenses, but it has a legal duty to increase the number of licences if there is a 'significant unmet demand'. We should seriously considering removing any limit on the number of licenses issued so that demand can be more easily met. Obviously we would not remove the requirement for licence holders to meet adequate criteria in other fields, but this 'delimiting' of licenses has been successfully carried out elsewhere in the UK, and should be the subject of serious debate."