Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, published in June 2025, what progress she has made on implementing recommendation 11.

The Department for Transport will legislate to address the important issues raised in the report, tackling the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licensing. We are considering all options – including out of area working, national standards and enforcement – seeking the best overall outcomes for passenger safety. Careful consideration of the options is needed as we do not want any change to decrease the availability of highly vetted licensed drivers and vehicles and inadvertently increase the use of those offering illegal services that evade these licensing checks.

We intend to consult shortly on making all local transport authorities responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing. Administering taxi and private hire vehicle licensing over larger areas could greatly increase consistency in standards across England, reduce out-of-area working and result in a better match between licensing revenue and compliance and enforcement burdens.

We are also reviewing licensing authorities' compliance with existing DfT guidance and considering how the statutory guidance can be strengthened to further protect the public. As part of this work, all licensing authorities in England have reported that they require the highest level of criminal background checks for taxi and PHV driver licence applicants – an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check with a check of the children’s and adults’ barred lists. Where other recommendations are not being followed, particularly those linked to safeguarding, we intend to hold authorities to account.