Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the safety of people using taxi and private hire vehicles as a result of the 2015 changes to the rules on cross-border taxi and private hire vehicle use.

The Task and Finish Group on taxi and private hire vehicle licensing that I set up is considering cross-border taxi and private hire vehicle use in its discussions, and will report its findings to me in the new year.

At the request of the Department for Transport, the Law Commission conducted a comprehensive review of private hire vehicle and taxi regulation in England and Wales. The ability to sub-contract private hire work across licensing authority boundaries was a recommendation of the Law Commission. Section 11 of the Deregulation Act 2015 enabled this and has allowed private hire operators to work more flexibly to meet the needs of their passengers.