In 2003 The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) made it a legal requirement for councils that have a fixed limit on the amount of Hackney Carriage taxis in their area to survey whether local needs were being met.

The Taxi trade in Southampton is currently waiting for the findings of the Halcrow Unmet Demand Survey to see if there is a need for any more taxis in the city.

Sadly, due to the worst recession since the 1930's, there is a real lack of work for taxi drivers, and according to the March Issue of the one of the taxi related magazines, many drivers are working 12-14 hours days for less than the minumum wage. This is completely at odds with public perception that drivers earn a fortune. 

Currently we have approximately 270 licensed white taxis in Southampton, which the SHA believe is enough. 

The Halcrow Survey should have found that we have very limited taxi spaces, but we will not know until the report is published, hopefully in a couple of months time. Everything is crossed for a good outcome.