Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to help increase the affordability of taxis for disabled people.

General policy on taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) licensing is devolved in Scotland (where PHVs are known as private hire cars), Wales and Northern Ireland. In England, licensing authorities can set maximum taxi fares for journeys within their area to protect passengers hailing taxis in the street or at a rank where passengers have little choice over which vehicle they hire. The setting of fares by private hire vehicle operators is a commercial matter for the company in question; as such services must be pre-booked passengers can shop around, comparing factors such as price, reliability and availability.

Disabled people are particularly reliant on taxi and PHV services and, thus, can be especially sensitive to high fares. We encourage licensing authorities to use the government’s Taxi and private hire vehicle licensing best practice guidance for licensing authorities in England which emphasises the importance of licensing authorities continuing to improve the inclusivity of the taxi and PHV services they regulate to ensure services in their area are safe, available, affordable and accessible. The Equality Act 2010 is however clear that operators and drivers cannot charge disabled people, including wheelchair users and assistance dog owners, more for their carriage or for providing assistance required by law.

Local authorities in England can also choose to provide an additional scheme to the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS), whereby a person eligible for free bus travel under the ENCTS, may agree with the local authority to surrender their pass in return for alternative travel concessions, such as travel tokens (which may be used on taxi and PHV services) or a railcard.