MPs call for "urgent and wholesale" reform of taxi licensing laws

Rules governing taxis and private hire vehicles need “urgent and wholesale reform”, MPs have said.

In a report the Commons Transport Select Committee also called on the government to introduce new legislation to tackle so-called “cross-border hire”, where taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) operate outside of the district in which they are licensed.

The committee set out a number of principles that it said should underpin any new legislation, which could also increase the potential for local authorities to work together to create larger licensing districts.

Other principles were:

  • The government should listen to the views of users, particularly vulnerable groups such as the disabled who rely on taxis and PHVs
  • The legislation on taxis and PHVs should be combined in one Act. “The distinction between taxi and PHV services could be maintained by providing for two types of vehicle licence under the same legislation"
  • Licensing should remain a local function. “Taxis and PHVs should however feature more prominently in local transport plans and Government should issue guidance to local authorities about how to ensure they do”
  • Tighter restrictions on cross border hire should be allowed. “Make it possible for licensing authorities to impose a condition that requires private hire vehicles and drivers to operate principally from within their licensing district,” the MPs said. They also said local authorities should be permitted to issue fixed penalty notices to out-of-town drivers found to have worked or sought work for a specified period of time within a district where they do not hold a licence. The report similarly said that, with due warning, it should be made easier for authorities to prosecute operators sending vehicles to work in areas for which they hold no licence
  • National licensing standards should be developed on certain issues which relate to public safety, notably for CRB checks, the road-worthiness of vehicles, and the ability of drivers whose licences have been revoked by one authority to seek a new licence in a different area.

Committee Chair Louise Ellman MP said: "The rules for taxis date back to 1847 and still refer to horse-drawn carriages. The rules for PHVs were set down in 1976 and are now out-of-date due to the growth of mobile phones and the internet. The age of this legislation and the complexity of case law accumulated in this area makes the need to overhaul the law on these matters irresistible.”

Ellman said the committee was not persuaded by the approach taken by the government, which wants to refer the matter to the Law Commission. “We believe a more effective approach would be for the government to work with the trade, local authorities and user groups to develop and bring forward new legislation within the lifetime of this parliament,” she said.

This could be done by means of a legislative reform order, the report suggested.

Philip Hoult