LGA welcomes consultation on updated taxi and PHV best practice guidance but renews call for comprehensive law reform

The Department for Transport’s consultation on a proposed updated taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) best practice guidance “provides helpful clarity on some complex issues in PHV licensing and will be a useful resource for both licensing authorities and the taxi and PHV trade”, the Local Government Association has said.

In its response to the consultation the LGA added that the best practice guidance “provides welcome recognition of the important role taxi and PHVs play in the transport network”.

However, the Association also said that whilst the best practice guidance and the statutory safeguarding guidance issued in 2020 were helpful, they were not an alternative to the legislative reform that was urgently needed.

“The Department for Transport should bring forward a comprehensive Taxi and PHV Licensing Reform Bill which covers the full range of safeguarding, market and enforcement issues that need addressing, to the benefit of both passengers and the trade,” it argued.

The LGA also called, more generally, for the guidance to be aligned with similar guidance issued in Wales and Scotland “to ensure there is some consistency of standards with drivers who may operate across borders”.

The Department for Transport’s consultation ran until 20 June.

Announcing the consultation, Baroness Vere of Norbiton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the DfT, said the Government’s commitment to introduce legislation, when parliamentary time allows, to enable the setting of national minimum licensing standards remained.