Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to strengthen regulations on out-of-area working of private hire Uber vehicles.

The Department is considering options to improve the current regulatory position in respect of taxis and private hire vehicles and will consult shortly on whether to make all local transport authorities, including Strategic Authorities, responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing.

We believe administering taxi and private hire vehicle licensing across a larger footprint would increase the consistency of standards and enable more effective use of enforcement powers across a whole functional economic area and facilitate integrated local transport planning. Greater economies of scale should also increase the efficiency in taxi and private hire vehicle licensing and the sector. This should reduce the factors that induce people to license out of their usual working area. This would be a significant change for the sector, and responses to the consultation will help inform the final decision.