Question reference: S5W-33416
- Asked by: Mike Rumbles, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 20 November 2020
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Current status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 7 December 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the £14 million financial support scheme for taxi drivers in Northern Ireland announced on 13 November 2020, whether it has considered providing an annual block grant for local licencing authorities in Scotland in order to remove the fee for processing licence applications for taxi operators.
Answer
In addition to the £30 million discretionary funding announced on 17 November, we are actively exploring additional opportunities to support taxi and private hire vehicle operators in recognition of the devastating impact of restrictions on their trade and the high fixed costs associated with operating their vehicles. As part of this we are reviewing the financial support provided to taxi drivers by the Northern Ireland Executive to consider what lessons we can draw from this.
It should be noted, however, that there are significant variations in the taxi vehicle licensing regime in Northern Ireland compared to here, not least that licensing fees are set and administered nationally by the Executive rather than by local authorities as is the case in Scotland.