Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to require in-vehicle CCTV in licensed taxis and private hire vehicles.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill seeks a power for the Secretary of State to set in regulations national minimum standards for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing. The power was approved by the House of Commons and the Bill is now being considered by the House of Lords. Should Parliament enable the setting of standards, mandating CCTV in vehicles will be considered as part of that process.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason (a) the number of staff and (b) and staff costs have increased at the Civil Aviation Authority since April 2017.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Since 2016, the CAA’s regulatory perimeter has expanded significantly. Following EU Exit, the CAA developed new rulemaking and regulatory oversight functions to replace those delivered by the European Aviation Safety Agency until 2020, including the creation of a UK state of design function. As a result of the Space Industry Act 2018, the CAA became the UK Space Regulator in 2021. At the same time, the CAA has grown to respond to the development of novel aviation technology (including drones, air taxis and future propulsion such as hydrogen), setting regulatory frameworks and standards to enable tomorrow’s aerospace to innovate and grow. The Future of Flight technologies have the potential to contribute up to £103 billion to the UK economy over the next 25 years.
Reflecting its strategic objectives and the government’s priorities, the CAA has created additional capacity in five areas; in economic regulation and consumer enforcement to manage increased ambition and expectations; to fulfil CAA’s expanded remit in relation to airspace modernisation; to deliver new cyber security oversight responsibilities for the aviation sector; and to deliver the CAA’s sustainability roles, including those it took on from the Independent Commission for Civil Aviation Noise; together with increases in back-office areas supporting these teams. All of this has been delivered with a focus on efficiency and efficacy, enabling increased investment in CAA services to its customers.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of distinguishing between commercial and private motorcycle use in the UK’s licensing regime.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
For driving licence categories, we do not differentiate between commercial use and private use of vehicles. The driving test similarly, does not differentiate between commercial use and private use of vehicles. Those wishing to operate vehicles for commercial use, are often required to obtain additional entitlements; for vans and lorries – an Operator Licence. For buses and coaches – a Public Service Vehicle Licence. For Taxis – a Private Hire Vehicle Licence and there are other Licence schemes run either through the Traffic Commissioners or through Local Authorities. These are not considered a formal part of the driving licence regime.
We have announced as part of the Road Safety Strategy published on 7 January 2026, that we will pilot a National Work-Related Road Safety Charter for businesses that require people to drive or ride for them. This includes the use of HGVs, Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs), cars, motorcycles, e-cycles and cycles. The pilot will run for two years.
The Road Safety Strategy also consists of a consultation paper, relating to the training, testing and licensing regime for Category A moped and motorcycle licences in Great Britain. We also will take into account both long-standing plans in the Department for Transport and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, and proposals received from the motorcycle sector, in considering reforms to this area.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps to change the licensing of taxis in the context of the Casey Review.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government response to Baroness Casey’s report committed to legislate to tackle the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) licensing. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill seeks a power for the Secretary of State to set national minimum standards for taxi and PHV licensing. The power was approved by the House of Commons, and the Bill is now being considered by the House of Lords.
If passed, national minimum standards would enable government to set robust standards for licensing right across England, to keep vulnerable children and, indeed, all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel. This is an important first step and the Department continues to consider further options for reform. The Government is consulting on making all local transport authorities responsible for taxi and PHV licensing. Administering licensing across larger areas would further increase consistency in licensing and enable better resourced authorities to make better use of their enforcement powers.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of safe evening transport for women in (a) rural areas and (b) Langley Vale.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport is committed to making the transport network safer for everyone, including women and girls, whenever and wherever they are travelling. As part of the Government’s aims to reduce Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) by half over the next decade, the Department has an ambitious, evidence-based programme of work to help tackle VAWG on transport. This includes measures in the Bus Services Act 2025 such as training on how to recognise and respond to incidents of criminal and antisocial behaviour (ASB).
We know that women and girls are more likely than men to avoid travelling alone when it’s dark. The Department’s ‘Protected characteristics and public transport perceptions and safety’ research, published in 2023, also found that women were more concerned than men about the risk of violence regardless of the time of day. People living in rural areas were more likely to say they felt safe, albeit by a relatively small margin.
We are continuing to build our evidence base to better understand the prevalence of VAWG and ASB across the transport network so we can better target interventions. In the meantime, the Department will continue to work across government and with partners, including the British Transport Police (BTP), the transport industry and local authorities to ensure that everyone feels and is safe when travelling.
In relation to taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs), the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill is seeking a power to set in regulations national minimum standards for taxi and PHV licensing. The power was approved by the House of Commons at Report Stage, and the Bill is now being considered by the House of Lords. If passed, this would enable government to set robust standards for licensing right across England, to keep women and girls and, indeed, all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 Oct 2025 to Question 81532 on Taxis: Licensing, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the powers available to local licensing authorities for ensuring the effective enforcement of private-hire vehicles that are licensed in one authority but predominantly operate in another.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department for Transport is legislating to tackle inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle licensing. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill would enable the setting of national minimum standards in licensing.
We are considering further options including in relation to out of area working and enforcement powers. In the interim, as recommended in the Department’s guidance to licensing authorities in England, enforcement officers should be jointly authorised by authorities where there is a need. The guidance also highlights that licensing authorities can seek further powers from their local police chief constables under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS).
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse was of the use of taxis by asylum seekers in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Transport services for asylum seekers are provided through our Asylum Accommodation & Support Contracts. We pay a fixed rate for transportation services which is set out in the contracts. Our suppliers must deliver transportation requirements in line with contractual standards and the fixed rate – with the type of transportation determined by our suppliers within this framework. Information on spend by specific transportation types is therefore not readily available.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much was spent on (a) taxis (b) buses (c) trains by her Department and its contractors for asylum seekers in it's care for each year from 2015 to date.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Transport services for asylum seekers are provided through our Asylum Accommodation & Support Contracts. We pay a fixed rate for transportation services which is set out in the contracts. Our suppliers must deliver transportation requirements in line with contractual standards and the fixed rate – with the type of transportation determined by our suppliers within this framework. Information on spend by specific transportation types is therefore not readily available.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 5 November 2025 to question 85843, whether she is considering requiring drivers to register with their home local authority validated by checking council tax, electoral roll and credit reference data.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill seeks to introduce powers to set national minimum standards for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing. If passed, national minimum standards would enable government to set robust standards for licensing across England, to keep all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel. It would also help reduce the variability of licensing standards across the country, which is a significant factor in inducing drivers to licence with an authority other than that in which they intend to work.
The Department continues to consider further options for reform, including out-of-area working and enforcement. We need to ensure that taxis and PHVs are able to work in a way that facilitates the journeys passengers want and need to make, in a consistently safe way, whilst achieving the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to chapter 7 and recommendation 11 of Baroness Casey's independent report entitled National audit on group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse, published on 16 June 2025, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of taxi and private hire vehicle drivers operating outside of the local authority in which they are licensed on the level of risk of child sexual exploitation; what steps her Department has taken to tackle taxi and private hire vehicle drivers operating outside of the local authority in which they are licensed; and if she will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent taxi and private hire vehicle drivers from operating predominantly outside of the local authority in which they are licensed.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Department has been actively looking at safeguarding and regulatory reform in relation to taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs). Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse added valuable evidence to this ongoing work.
The English Devolution White Paper, published in December last year, committed to consult on making all Local Transport Authorities, including Strategic Authorities, responsible for taxi and PHV licensing. Administering taxi and PHV licensing over larger areas could increase consistency and efficiency in taxi and PHV licensing across England, reduce out-of-area working and better match licensing revenue and compliance and enforcement burdens. The consultation will be launched soon.
The Government response to Baroness Casey’s National Audit committed to legislate to address the important issues raised, tackling the inconsistent standards of taxi and PHV driver licensing.
On Tuesday 18 November, the Government tabled an amendment to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill to seek a power for the Secretary of State to set in regulations national minimum standards for taxi and PHV licensing. These standards would be subject to consultation and would be primarily focused on passenger safety and accessibility. This would mean that wherever the public live or travel any taxi or PHV service they use would be subject to robust standards. The power was approved by the Commons at Report Stage and the Bill will now move to the Lords.
The Department continues to consider further options for reform, including out-of-area working and enforcement. We need to ensure that taxis and PHVs are able to work in a way that facilitates the journeys passengers want and need to make, in a consistently safe way, whilst achieving the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.