At a glance
• Sadiq Khan has announced a compensation scheme for minicab drivers unable to work due to long TfL licence-renewal delays
• Hundreds of drivers — including many with Uber — have faced severe hardship, with more than 400 still stuck in the system
• TfL says it has added staff and improved processing times, but critics argue delays remain widespread and unresolved
Some minicab drivers who have been left unable to work because of Transport for London delays in renewing their licences will receive compensation, Sir Sadiq Khan has announced.
The London mayor promised to have a compensation system in place by the end of the year after being told that hundreds of drivers, including many working for Uber, remained stuck in limbo and unable to earn a living.
The problem has lasted for more than a year – sparking a series of protests outside TfL offices and at a TfL board meeting.
Last week, members of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) union marked the first anniversary of the death of driver Rob Dale, who suffered a fatal heart attack after a month of being unable to provide for his family.
Sir Sadiq made the compensation announcement at Mayor’s Question Time at City Hall on Thursday but said the first priority of TfL officials would be to clear the backlog of licence renewal applications.
As of last week, about 400 remained stuck in the system.
Sir Sadiq was told by Neil Garratt, a Tory member of the London Assembly, that many drivers had been “extremely badly treated” by TfL.
Mr Garratt said TfL had introduced a system to check whether applicants were “fit and proper people” to hold a private hire vehicle (PHV) licence, “but then completely let those people down”.
Mr Garratt said: “There is an enormous backlog. Two days ago, there were still over 400 people whose licence to drive a private hire vehicle has expired and is just sitting with TfL to process.
“This is putting people in a position of almost destitution. They’re still on the hook to pay all the leasing costs and fixed costs of having a car – which they are then legally not allowed to use, entirely because of TfL.
“There should be this year, or next year, some form of compensation for those drivers who have been extremely badly treated by TfL through no fault of their own.”
Sir Sadiq said he recognised the “wrong” that had been done to drivers seeking to renew their licence.
He said that TfL’s efforts to improve the licensing system had partly fallen victim to the cyber attack that affected the whole organisation a year ago.
Sir Sadiq told Mayor’s Question Time: “He is right – the drivers have been let down. I can give him that reassurance [about compensation].”
He said TfL would be offering compensation to “some PHV drivers” in recognition of the problems they had suffered. He said that applications were now being processed “in 10 working days”.
It is not known how many drivers will be offered compensation nor how much money they will receive.
Sir Sadiq added: “I would hope by the end of this year we will be able to set out the details [of the compensation scheme].
“The priority, I have said to TfL, is to sort the licences out, and the backlog. Once we are in a better position with that – I think it is a 10-day turnaround now – I can give the guarantee that those same officers will be looking into a compensation scheme.”
Elly Baker, the Labour transport spokeswoman on the assembly, welcomed the offer of compensation for drivers who had suffered hardship but said she was concerned that the problem with the issuing of licences had not been resolved.
She told the mayor: “We are not seeing significant drops in the number of drivers [affected]. We are still seeing hundreds of drivers at any one time unable to work, with no additional delays on their part.
“The last number we had from TfL, which was only last week, was 400. That is additional potential claims for compensation. Why is TfL not getting on top of this?”
Ms Baker said the answers given by the mayor were the same she had already received from TfL, “and they don’t stack up” as many cases where there were no unresolved issues were still being delayed.
“Those have consistently been in the hundreds, all the way back to July,” she said. “This is a genuine problem. I would really urge you to go back and have a look at what is going on.”
The mayor said that TfL had added 40 staff to its licensing team to attempt to address the issue.
He said there were a record number of minicab drivers in London – more than 100,000 – and that more checks were carried out than previously before licences were renewed.
Mr Dale, who had been driving for Uber, became increasingly distressed as he awaited the renewal of his licence. His income vanished and repeated attempts to get clarity from TfL went unanswered.
The IGWB says his case is similar to thousands of others, with many drivers being unable to work for months at a time.
Alex Marshall, president of the IWGB Union, said last week: “Since Rob’s death, the Dale family have turned their grief into action, speaking to the media, confronting TfL officials, and demanding justice, not only for Rob, but for every driver still trapped in this broken system.
“Yet here we are - one year on - still facing the same delays, the same excuses, and the same indifference. Let’s be clear: this crisis was completely avoidable. TfL’s senior leadership have had every opportunity to fix this system. Instead, they have chosen inaction.”
Ben Dale, Rob Dale’s son, said: “The stress caused by being out of work, unable to earn, and kept in the dark about his licensing status consumed him. We will never get our dad back, but we don’t want other families to have to go through this pain.”
