Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2019 to Question 252472 on taxis: licensing, if he will reconsider introducing statutory definitions of plying for hire and pre-booked; and what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the judgment on 14 January 2019 in which a private hire driver was prosecuted for illegally plying for hire in Reading.

The Government response to the Task and Finish Group report published on 12 February 2019 advised that the recommendation in respect of providing a statutory definition of plying for hire would not be taken forward as it would not provide a practical improvement on the current position.

The Law Commission came to this view in accordance with the advice received from a panel of distinguished licensing lawyers convened specifically for the purpose of discussing reform of plying for hire. The main reason for this conclusion was that whether a driver is plying for hire in particular circumstances is a matter of fact and degree that a court must consider. The Department regularly monitors cases but does not consider that any recent cases necessitate a change in approach.

Private hire vehicles are already only permitted to carry passengers when a booking has been made through a licensed operator.