IN THE NEWS
DEPUTY MAYOR LONDON: CHANGES ESSENTIAL TO IMPROVE SAFETY FOR PASSENGERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
London’s Deputy Mayor for Transport Val Shawcross has called on the Government to ensure the safety of taxi and private hire passengers nationwide by ending the pot- entially dangerous practice of cross-border hiring.
Currently drivers of taxis or private hire vehicles can work anywhere in England once they have secured a licence with a licensing authority. It means that drivers can apply to get their licences in an area where they perceive standards are lower, despite having no intention of working there.
Transport for London has called on the Gov- ernment to introduce legislation to tackle this problem, and London’s Deputy Mayor for Transport, Val Shawcross, has written to Transport Minister Nusrat Ghani to request a meeting at which cross-border hiring would be discussed. Now a report published on 9 March by TfL has made clear the need to drive up national standards across the taxi and private hire industries.
TfL and licensing authorities across the country view cross-border hiring as a serious public safety issue that undermines local licensing regimes. It can create a race to the bottom in terms of licensing standards and significantly restrict the enforcement capa- bilities of local licensing authorities, which only have limited powers to enforce against ‘out-of-town’ vehicles.
The scale of the problem has also been mag- nified significantly in recent years through developments in new technology. In London, more than 1,000 drivers have home address- es in Manchester, Birmingham and Sheffield, and TfL suspects these drivers rarely, if ever, undertake journeys in the capital.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has made a series of recommendations in the report which are supported by a number of licens- ing authorities across the country. They are:
• To require all taxi and private hire jour- neys either to start or finish in the area in which the driver, vehicle and operator are licensed.
• Set high national minimum standards to provide a consistent approach to cus- tomer safety and accessibility.
• Create national powers to ensure authori- ties can enforce national minimum standards in their areas, regardless of
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where the operator, driver and vehicle is licensed. This would be supported by a provision for data sharing, for example licensing decisions and conduct of licensees, between licensing authorities.
• Consider the impact of these issues in Scotland and Wales, and work with respective devolved governments to ensure any future requirements in Eng- land are not undermined.
The Mayor also continues to press the Gov- ernment for the power to cap the number of private hire drivers in London, a statutory definition of ‘plying for hire’ and what con- stitutes a ‘pre-booked journey’ to help enforcement and prevent illegal activity. Sadiq Khan has consistently called for urgent changes and through his Taxi and Private Hire Action Plan he set out a series of actions to ensure high standards in the industry and that passengers are protected.
Val Shawcross, London’s Deputy Mayor for Transport, said: “Cross-border hiring is a serious national safety issue that must be tackled by the Government. It cannot be right that drivers can obtain a licence in an area where they believe standards are lower, and then go to work elsewhere in the coun- try where they feel they can ignore enforcement officers. It’s potentially dan- gerous and must be stopped. We need the Government to pass legislation now that insists drivers start or finish their journey in their licensing authority and deliver a national minimum standard to help ensure safety of passengers.”
Simon Blackburn, Chair of the Local Govern- ment Association’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: “Councils have been making the case for our outdated patchwork of taxi laws to be updated with a regime fit for the 21st Century. We need action on a range of issues, including national minimum standards, wider enforce- ment powers for authorities and a requirement for people to be licensed where they are actually going to work. The current regime is not fit for purpose – some parts of the law pre-date the internal com- bustion engine, let alone apps and smartphones – and it’s long past time we had a package of reform that brings our taxi and PHV legislation up to date.”
Helen Chapman, TfL’s Interim Director of Licensing, Regulation and Charging, said:
“We have made a number of recommenda- tions to Government that will bring an end to cross border hiring and the perverse sit- uation where a driver lives over 200 miles away from where they were granted a licence with no intention of working there. The reforms we are proposing such as national minimum standards, national enforcement capabilities and the need for journeys to start or finish where the driver is licensed, are urgently needed to ensure passenger safety nationwide.”
Mick Rix, GMB Union National Officer for Taxi & Private Hire Drivers, said: “TfL has cor- rectly identified that cross-border working of taxi and private hire drivers predomi- nantly working in areas where their licence is not issued, is now at such epidemic levels, that a real threat to passenger safety exists. When existing legislation was written the intentions were never to have a free-for-all with taxis and minicabs working anywhere in the country. There are now obvious increased safeguarding problems for vul- nerable persons. Local authorities and enforcement agencies are powerless to enforce taxis and PHV not from their juris- diction. The police believe this is also a major threat too. TfL has produced a wel- come report, where we hope Government will listen, and bring forward proposals to update legislation”.
Steve McNamara, General Secretary of the LTDA, said: “Passenger safety is absolutely paramount, and yet the current licensing regulations mean that local authorities can’t control who operates in their area and protect passengers. TfL has put together a fantastic report with some strong recom- mendations which we at the LTDA fully back. In London, while cross border hiring remains legal, TfL could set whatever high standards they want to, but a driver could be licensed in the Home Counties where the rules are weaker, and then legally ignore the additional regulations in London. TfL has rightly added additional requirements in London to ensure vehicles are zero emis- sion capable, it cannot be right that a vehicle that does not meet these standards can work 100% of the time in London undermining the high standards expected of the local trade. It’s time the Government closed the loophole in the law and gave TfL and local authorities the powers they need to protect passengers when they get into a cab or a private hire vehicle.”
APRIL 2018
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