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H O W A R E O U R L I C E N C E F E E S S P E N T ?
by theLCDC
London Assembly Member Keith Prince quizzes Mayor Khan
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All income received by TfL from licence fees is spent on the delivery of taxi and private hire licensing and compliance activities
Each financial year TfL forecasts expected licensing expenditure and income This is used to calculate any changes to licence fees that may be required Any surplus or deficit at the end of each financial year is carried over into the following year’s calculation
All very well, but unfortunately the last published Taxi and Private Hire financial position is for the 2019/20 accounting period.
In June 22 London
Assembly Member Keith Prince (pictured bottom right), questioned:
‘What is the TfL Taxi & Private Hire financial position for accounting periods
2020/21 & 2021/22 and why has the Mayor failed to publish the figures for these periods?’
The mayor’s response:
‘There has been a delay in publishing Transport for London (TfL) annual financial summaries for taxi and private hire during the pandemic
‘I’m aware that TfL is updating its figures for 2020/21 and 2021/22 and intends to publish them in the next few weeks’
Weeks passed, then months, still no publication This prompted additional questioning from Keith:
‘In relation to question 2022/2147 from June and your answer “that TfL is updating its figures for 2020/21 and 2021/22 and intends to publish them in the next few weeks” Can you be more specific as to when?’
Response from the Mayor (pictured right):
‘Transport for London plans to publish this information in early 2023 The team apologises for the delay.’
As we go to print the position remains
Question’s must be askedwhy the reluctance? TfL would obviously know yearly positions and the summaries are a mere 3 pages A couple of days at most to compile
The importance is obvious: any deficit, large or small would have an impact on the delivery of licensing and compliance activity The last 19/20 published summary showed a worrying closing regulatory deficit of £31m We also have the impact of the pandemic on finances
Do licensees not have a right to know how their licence fees are spent and managed?
