Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to reform taxi and private hire licensing laws.

The former Minister for Transport, Sir John Hayes, set up a working group to consider how private hire vehicle and taxi licensing authorities use their powers, and produce focussed recommendations for action. The Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing considered the regulation of the industry in their discussions. The report of the Task and Finish Group was published on 24 September 2018.

On 12 February 2019 we published the Government’s response to the report of the Task and Finish Group which sets out which of the recommendations the Department proposes to take forward. Many of the short-term recommendations made by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group in his report are for licensing authorities to make full use of their extensive existing powers and these are a matter for licensing authorities to consider.

Work has already started to take forward some of the recommendations, for example the Department launched, on 12 February, its consultation on draft statutory guidance to be issued to licensing authorities on the use of their powers to protect children and vulnerable adults from harm which will run until 22 April. Those reforms that require legislative change, for example national minimum standards, will be made through primary legislation when time allows.