Fresh plea for more funding for taxi drivers – Glasgow Times

Glasgow Conservative councillors are calling on the SNP administration to provide additional cash grants to drivers in the taxi and private hire trade.

The call comes after other local authorities including Aberdeen City Council announced funding worth £860,000 overall to support taxi drivers, with an additional £1,000 of automatic top up grant funding.

Dundee City Council and Angus Council have also expanded support provided by the Scottish Government’s Private Hire Support Fund.

That fund closed on March 25, despite only granting funding to less than two-thirds of eligible drivers and spending 57 per cent of its budget.

Glasgow Conservative councillor Thomas Kerr commented: “I continue to be inundated with correspondence from taxi drivers in Glasgow who are in a state of desperation. Their income has been completely decimated over the last year.

“If other local authorities elsewhere in Scotland can give extra funding to our taxi drivers, then that should be the case in Glasgow. I find it appalling that there has been radio silence from the SNP Leader of the Council on this matter and officials are saying they can’t do anything.

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