Background information and Clickable Links
Users and uses of these statistics
These statistics are used within DfT to inform the development and monitoring of policy relating to taxis (for example regarding wheelchair accessible vehicles and quantity controls on taxis), and for occasional ministerial briefing or to answer public enquiries. Outside DfT the statistics are perceived to be of interest to various industry bodies and provide information for licensing authorities to compare themselves to other areas. Figures were also used by the Law Commission as background to their recent review of taxi licensing policy1.
Strengths and weaknesses of the data
These statistics are collected through a survey of the 316 licensing authorities in England and Wales (lower tier local authorities, and TfL for London). A copy of the survey questionnaire can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/transport-statistics-notes-and-guidance-taxis
In 2013, full or partial responses were received from 97 per cent of areas, covering nearly 99 per cent of licensed vehicles. Where a figure was not provided, this was imputed by carrying forward a figure from the authority’s latest response to previous surveys. This means that the national estimates involve very little imputation. Data returns are validated by comparing to previous figures and querying cases where there has been a particularly big change. This can result in revisions to previous years figures, though these are typically minor.
In a few cases, authorities report that figures are estimated, or relate to time points other than 31 March. Although these factors are unlikely to impact on the national and regional level figures to any great degree, changes in the data systems used by licensing authorities to store and extract the information can result in fluctuations in the quality of data over time. This is unlikely to be systematic and it is difficult to assess the impact with any precision, however sensitivity analysis suggests changes of +/- 1% in the national figures should be interpreted with caution.
Among individual data items the number of wheelchair accessible taxis and particularly PHVs are most affected by unavailability of information. National figures for wheelchair accessible PHVs are estimated from the information available and considerably less robust than the other statistics presented in this release.
National Statistics
National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure they meet customer needs: www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/code-of-practice/index.html
For details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release: https://www.gov.uk/transport-statistics-notes-and-guidance-taxis
Next Release
Following feedback from local authority representatives, we intend to collect and publish Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle statistics on an ad-hoc basis in future. The date of the next release will be announced through the DfT publications schedule at least one month before publication, but is unlikely to be before summer 2015.
We welcome user feedback on the frequency of future publications or any other aspect of these statistics. This can be provided by email to bus.statistics@dft.gsi.gov.uk
1 For further details see: http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/areas/taxi-and-private-hire-services.htm
Series
Taxi statistics
This series brings together all documents relating to Taxi statistics
DfT taxi statistics provide information on the number of licensed taxis and private hire vehicles in England and Wales, including the number designed to be accessible for disabled people. Data are derived from the Department’s survey of licensing authorities in England and Wales, which takes place every two years. The last survey was carried out in 2013.
Planned changes to data collection after 2013. Currently, the Department publishes statistics on taxis every two years. We intend to move to collecting the information less frequently in future, when it is needed, and therefore will no longer publish these statistics on a regular basis. If you have any feedback on this change please let us know by email to bus.statistics@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Latest taxi statistics
There were an estimated 78 thousand taxis and 153 thousand licensed private hire vehicles (PHVs) in England and Wales at end March 2013, a total of 231 thousand vehicles.
An estimated 58% of licensed taxis are wheelchair accessible – this is 100% in London.
Overall, there were 297 thousand taxi or PHV driver licenses in England and Wales at end March 2013.
See notes and guidance, the pre-release access list and technical information
If the taxis company is registered and all the drivers are licensed then there are very less chance of Taxis crime. In my area frimley taxis is registered and all the drivers are licensed.
ReplyDeleteCan you please upload England and Wales Taxi and private hire vehicle statistics for 2014. My company is Walton Taxis in Walton On Thames area and the updated report will be very useful for me. Thanks for the article.
ReplyDeleteDfT taxi statistics provide information on the number of licensed taxis and private hire vehicles in England and Wales, Like Camberley Taxis in Camberley area.including the number designed to be accessible for disabled people. Data are derived from the department’s survey of licensing authorities in England and Wales, which takes place every 2 years. The last survey was carried out in 2013.
ReplyDeleteIf you drive a taxi, then you must register for goods and services tax (GST). It does not matter how often you drive a taxi.
ReplyDeleteIf the driver is an employee, then the driver must not register for GST. The driver is an employee when the driver is not entitled to keep any of the takings and is paid a set amount to drive the taxi.
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