guaranteed assistance to find and locate a booked private hire vehicle”. It was explained and agreed that there simply has to be something in place to alert a driver that the passenger may need assistance, even if it is a simple case of knowing what they are wearing, and what assistance they require, so the driver is aware of the need to go and find the passenger.
We further discussed the defences from prosecution for drivers under the Equality Act by simply “not knowing” that assistance was required, not all disabilities are visible, just like not all heroes wear capes.
TAXIS AND PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLES (SAFEGUARDING AND ROAD SAFETY) BILL
This Bill has reached the Lords Committee stage - line by line examination of the Bill - which is scheduled for 22 March. This is a Private Member’s Bill sponsored by Peter Gibson, MP for Darlington.
This Bill seeks to improve the safety of taxi passengers. The problem the Bill seeks to resolve is one in which licensing authorities might revoke the licence of a driver for wrong- doing, only for the driver to obtain a licence from another authority, and then be able to continue working, potentially in their original licensing authority area.
It aims to address this problem in two ways:
Firstly, it would mandate local licensing authorities to record taxi licence refusals, revocations, and suspensions on a national database, which other local licensing authorities would be required to consult before making licence decisions about the same driver. This would create a statutory footing for the ‘National Register of Taxi and Private Hire Licence Revocations and Refusals’ (NR3), which was commissioned by the Local Government Association and introduced in July 2018 and is already used by many licensing authorities on a voluntary basis.
Secondly, it would allow local authority enforcement teams to report instances of wrongdoing by taxi drivers to the authority in which the offender is licensed. The licensing authority must then have regard to such a report and respond to it.
Again, I had the pleasure of discussing this Bill with Peter Gibson MP, prior to its third reading. The nation’s favourite topic of cross-border working came up, where we discussed that whilst this is a hot topic, and something that does need to be addressed at parliamentary level; it is impossible to address everything in one go, as it would lose
APRIL 2022 45
its momentum and focus - so the aim was to address it in bite-sized chunks.
Doing it this way removes the “may” register, making it a “must” register for all councils to sign up to the NR3 database, and keep it up to date, since it was agreed that without all local authorities being active, the database was about as much use as a chocolate fireguard, the result being that “licence shopping” as it has become known, remains very easy.
Having spoken to most of the above MPs, I found them all to be far more supportive of our industry than we are aware. So I watched the debates on parliamentary TV (I know right!!! Who has the time for that??) but do you know what, for the first time in forever, (I really should stop watching Disney movies with my daughter), I sat through it, and enjoyed every moment of the debate. There was not one MP who did not have some message of praise for our industry, and you, the operators and drivers, they named you, and gave examples of the shining work you all do and how much not only the general public, but they themselves rely on each and every one of you. Take a bow the lot of you.
AS IF THAT WAS NOT ENOUGH!!
Over the last few months, we have also seen funding being sourced and provided to install fully compliant CCTV systems into taxi and private hire vehicles, from City of York Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Telford and Wrekin Council.
These councils stated that they are delighted to be able to offer this, and openly say how much this will protect and help drivers, not only from allegations, but also from attacks, and from licensing committee hearing and potential court appeals.
Times are indeed looking up. Also, there is shortly to be a DfT consultation coming out on the subject of “levelling up”, which aims to reduce the sheer volume of licensing authorities, creating regions, making licensing simpler, better, faster, more streamlined and fairer, with a goal towards creating a national standard.
We will discuss that in far more detail once it is released, as it does go much further than that, but full details are not yet available.
Article by Dave Lawrie, Director NPHTA 0161 688 7777
info@nphta.co.uk
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