Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Disabled Persons) Bill

Debate between Sally-Ann Hart and Katherine Fletcher

2nd reading
Friday 14th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sally-Ann Hart]

My hon. Friend makes a valid point. When councils are pedestrianising roads, creating shared spaces or whatever else, we should urge them to ensure measures and safeguards are put in place for taxis and private hire vehicles to access those pedestrianised places so that disabled people are not put at risk.

An inclusive transport network is part of the Government’s broader effort to close the 30% employment gap between disabled and non-disabled people of working age. The Government’s existing inclusive transport strategy highlights the inconsistent application of the Equality Act in the duty placed on taxi and PHV drivers, and the Government’s 2021 national disability strategy commits to introducing legislation to strengthen the law on the carriage of disabled people in taxis and private hire vehicles to ensure both protection from overcharging and the provision of appropriate assistance, regardless of the service they choose to use.

This national disability strategy includes a host of initiatives to provide improvements for disabled passengers, such as an accessibility audit for all railway stations, clearer audible and visual announcements on buses, the introduction of legislation for taxis and private hire vehicles, and £1 million to improve access to seaports. I understand the Government partnered with Scope to develop a charter for disabled passengers that will help boost confidence across our road and rail networks, and to produce a practical guide that pulls together disabled passengers’ rights so they understand how they can get from A to B with the dignity and ease they deserve.

Scope research indicates that passengers often encounter a vast number of documents concerning their rights, and these documents can be unclear. Working on this feedback, the charter will bring together existing information for passengers, focusing it into one coherent and easy-to-use format. Once the disabled passengers’ charter is complete, it will be published online to create an all-inclusive facility for passenger rights and complaints procedures. I presume it will include rights in relation to taxis and private hire vehicles.

Taxis and private hire vehicles, along with public transport, should be accessible for everyone, and the charter will help disabled passengers to better understand their rights and the standards they should expect across the network, and how to hold providers to account when their travel goes wrong.

Section 167 of the Equality Act provides only that local licensing authorities may “maintain a list” of wheelchair-accessible taxis and PHVs. However, only 70% of local licensing authorities have done so. This means that drivers in areas without a list have been able to continue discriminating against disabled passengers even if their vehicle is technically wheelchair accessible. To address this, the Bill will require local licensing authorities to maintain and publish such a list, and proposed new section 167A creates new offences where a private hire vehicle operator fails or refuses to accept a booking from a disabled person because of their disability, or where they charge extra for fulfilling any of the disability-related duties specified in the Equality Act.

[Katherine Fletcher]

I thank my—[Interruption.] Oh, I have just stabbed myself with my glasses. Another winning contribution to Hansard.

My hon. Friend is making a much more erudite and technical examination of the legislation than I am capable of producing now. It occurred to me how important it is to personalise the Bill for the individuals involved. A good friend of mine, who had the unfortunate duty of teaching me how to snowboard, had an unfortunate incident and ended up on the British Paralympian sit ski team. Her freedom is her fabulous hand-driven car. If that car is in for a service, however, a refusal from a taxi firm to accommodate her and the needs of her two young children can put her in a pickle, even though she has competed for the country. My hon. Friend is being much cleverer than I am, but does she agree that although the Bill can sound dry and technical, the technical is important for valued people such as my pal?

[Sally-Ann Hart]

My hon. Friend raises a valid point. I am talking about the legal technicalities, but essentially the Bill is about people who are vulnerable and in need, and about taxis and private hire vehicles being compassionate and providing them with the right services. She is right that it is about people—what is politics about if not people?

The Government are committed to transforming the transport network, including for taxis and private hire vehicles, to make it more inclusive and to bring in easier travel for disabled people. The first evaluation report of progress against their inclusive transport strategy was published recently, on 10 January, and it incorporates evidence provided by disabled people on their transport experiences. That important report will help to put future changes in place to create a fairer system for everyone. That is why the Bill, brought forward by my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Kenilworth and Southam, deserves our wholehearted support.

Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill

Debate between Sally-Ann Hart and Katherine Fletcher

Friday 10th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sally-Ann Hart]

I agree with my hon. Friend. That reminds me of a request I made to our local CCG. It is up to MPs to lobby local CCGs and for constituents to lobby their MPs. I lobbied our local CCG recently with regard to—[Interruption.]

[Katherine Fletcher]

I apologise for the heckling of nerdery. Neurofibromatosis.

[Sally-Ann Hart]

I thank my hon. Friend for prompting me to remember it. Neurofibromatosis is a terribly rare disease. It would be great if we could have the café au lait marks put in children’s red books, but of course we need the evidence base to do that. I lobbied our local CCG to see if it could do that and I know it has been taken higher up the chain to see what evidence base we need. I quite agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Great Grimsby (Lia Nici), because we can lobby and the CCG can do the same.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sally-Ann Hart]

I completely agree.

It is a really positive step that the NHS refractory epilepsy specialist clinical advisory service has been established to support clinicians working with patients to optimise the treatment of refractory epilepsy, and that an e-learning model has been developed by Health Education England. This shows what can be done as we move forward.

I have to highlight my concern with some of the arguments surrounding the legalisation of cannabis for medicinal use in the UK, especially those that call for sick people to be permitted to grow their own cannabis under licence. I recognise that the hon. Member for Manchester, Withington mentioned my concern that, if we give permission, we have to be careful that people do not abuse it for recreational purposes. We have to be aware of that. The argument that the continued ban on cannabis is irrational because cannabis works as a medicine for a number of medical conditions indicates that there may well be a push for cannabis to be legalised without any real proof required of safety and effectiveness.

[Katherine Fletcher]

My hon. Friend is making a really interesting point. It is very important that we are careful not to conflate the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use and what is already legal. I know she is not, but does she accept that clarification?

[Sally-Ann Hart]

I do not want to conflate them, but we have to be aware of that. We must also be aware that using cannabis, medicinally or otherwise, carries risk. There is really not enough data on the effects of cannabis on a child’s brain development, for example. Cannabis carries significant mental health risks for some individuals, and using it increases the risk of developing psychosis, depression and anxiety, as highlighted by Professor Colin Drummond, chair of the addictions faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.