On Friday the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Bill completed its passage through the House of Commons. This Private Member’s Bill will reform licensing rules for taxis and private hire vehicles to reduce the risk that unsuitable people are granted or hold a tax or private hire vehicle licence.
This Bill will do this by improving cooperation between local authorities to prevent dangerous drivers obtaining licences with two main sets of provisions.
The first require licensing authorities in England to input into a central database instances where the authority has suspended, revoked, refused to grant or refused to renew a taxi or private hire vehicle driver’s licence because of certain safeguarding or road safety concerns. Other licensing authorities in England must then have regard to that information when considering whether to grant or renew a taxi or PHV driver’s licence.
The second set of provisions in the Bill requires licensing authorities in England to report certain serious safeguarding or road safety concerns about a taxi or private hire vehicles driver working in its area to the licensing authority that granted a licence to that driver.
Speaking after the debate James said:
“Taxis and minicabs play a vital role in helping people get around. This Bill is about public safety and giving people greater confidence that the driver of their taxi has been properly vetted. By requiring licensing authorities to share more information on refusals as well as safeguarding and road safety concerns, it will keep the travelling public safe.”
During the debate James also highlighted research from the Guide Dogs for the Blind research that found that 72 per cent of guide dog owners who took part in the survey reported minicab and private hire vehicles illegally turned them away. He called on the government to work with drivers and firms to increase take up of disability training.
He said:
“When people with guide dogs are turned away by drivers it is deeply distressing to the individuals involved. It damages their confidence and undermines their independence and ability to live their life. I welcome the minister’s commitment that guidance on disability training will be brought forward shortly and the government will mandate national minimum standards.”
Notes to Editors
Research by the Guide Dogs for the Blind is available here here./
Text of James' speech
At its core, the Bill is about public safety, and giving people greater confidence, when they get in the back of a taxi or private hire vehicle, that the driver has been properly checked out. We legislators have a duty to consider carefully whether legislation is necessary. I recognise that the Bill builds on the approach set out in the Government-issued statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards, which recommend that licensing authorities share information with other authorities, because better information will lead to better decisions.
The Bill will benefit local authorities—and, through them, the public—by ensuring that they have as much relevant information as possible when considering new applications or renewal applications. It will also mean that local authorities are aware of incidents in other areas involving drivers whom they have licenced. It closes a loophole that means that local authorities are not required to share information. That prevents other authorities from being able to make an informed decision, and as others have highlighted, that creates the potential for a driver who is refused a licence to move to another area to apply for a licence there. As my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington said, that is a crazy situation. The Bill represents a proportionate and welcome response to that, and will help local authorities protect the public.
Constituents have raised with me the difficulty in getting taxi drivers to accept passengers with assistance dogs; they are turned away by drivers. Research by the charity Guide Dogs found that the businesses most commonly reported to have refused access included minicabs and private hire vehicles; 72% of respondents reported that happening to them. These refusals are deeply distressing to the individuals involved. They damage their confidence and undermine their independence and ability to live their life. Of course, it is already an offence under the Equality Act 2010 for taxi and private hire vehicle drivers to refuse to carry an assistance dog; they can be fined up to £1,000.
In 2019, the Government accepted a recommendation that all taxi and minicab drivers be required to have disability equality training. I would be grateful to the Minister for an update on that for my constituents and Guide Dogs, and on the steps that the Government are taking to encourage drivers and companies to do that training voluntarily. Given the importance of the issue, I welcome the fact that passengers with assistance dogs and wheelchair passengers will be covered by the clause 1 “Relevant information” provisions, which require information to be passed on if a person poses a safeguarding risk. I welcome the fact that, as my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington confirmed, there is no effect on the appeals process or panels, or on the rights that taxi drivers have when decisions go against them.
I am always focused on the question of when legislation commences. In my experience as a special adviser in various Departments, I found that too often a lot of energy was focused on bringing forward measures; less energy was spent on bringing them into force. I am sure that my hon. Friend the Minister is on the case with her officials to make sure that the measures are implemented as rapidly as possible.
Finally, I lend my support to the campaign launched a decade ago by the noble Lord Finkelstein against the misuse of the prefix “pre”. Private hire cars are often festooned with signs saying, “Pre-booked only”. The explanatory notes fall into the same trap. These cars are not pre-booked; they are just booked. If we can end this preposterous prefix use, that would be a little win for pedants everywhere. I support the Bill.”
