Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of restricting cross border hiring by taxis and private hire vehicles; and whether representations from external stakeholders are being taken into account in that assessment.

The Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing considered the regulation of the industry, including the issue of cross border hiring. The report of the Task and Finish Group was published on 24 September 2018.

On 12 February 2019 the Government published a response to the recommendations made by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-licensing-government-response-to-independent-report.

As indicated in the response, the Government will consider further, with a view to legislation, the Chair's recommendation around tackling cross-border working, including how it might work in detail.

The Task and Finish Group was made up of external stakeholders and the Group sought and received representations from a range of stakeholders within the taxi and PHV sector. The Department will continue to liaise with stakeholders on any cross border proposals.