A survey of all 364 taxi licensing authorities in England and Wales outside London was undertaken during the winter of 1991/1992 using self complete questionnaires with follow up telephone interviews where necessary. All licensing authorities responded. The survey obtained information on a range of issues including: the licensing policies and conditions adopted by the authorities and the fees they charged; the numbers of drivers and vehicles licensed; the level of taxi fares; the structure of the trades locally and the take up of new business opportunities for taxis and hire cars. Comparison with data collected in earlier surveys showed the annual growth of the industries was below those seen in 1986-89 but was some 3 times the rate prevailing from 1976 to 1985. The number of authorities licensing private hire operation (using the adoptive provisions of section II of the Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1976) had continued to grow and more than 95% of authorities in England and Wales would regulate private hire in 1992. All districts licensed taxis. A survey of taxi and hire car licensing in Scotland was made by Edinburgh District Council in January 1992. The section on Licensing in Scotland in this report includes data provided by Edinburgh District Counciland is published with their permission. (A)
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