STV News report that Glasgow City Council “…has recently turned down almost 100 applications for private hire licences” leading to safety fears.

The main issue appears to be applicants refused a private hire car licence owing to the Council’s overprovision policy. In particular, at least one applicant has purchased a vehicle in advance of the licence application being granted.

It is difficult to divine why applicants are surprised as the overprovision policy is advertised on the Council’s website.

Some may argue that overprovision is a tool designed to make sure that there are private hire cars available to do the work required: the argument being that if there are too many private hire cars then no operator can make a living and therefore, provision actually decreases.