NEW BEST PRACTICE GUIDANCE
By Iain MacDonald and Ian Millership LVSA (Licensed Vehicle Surveys & Assessment)
On Friday 17 November, the latest Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing Best Practice Guidance (BPG) document was issued by the Department for Transport (DfT). This followed on from the consul- tation on the draft produced during 2022.
This article explores aspects of the BPG and how they relate to common practices within taxi and private hire licensing, along with potential impacts.
The guidance introduces an overarching theme which suggests that the DfT wants to work with licensing authorities, in regard to licensed vehicle provision “to promote the regulation of the sector in a way that enables the provision of safe, accessible, available and affordable services that meet the wide range of passenger needs by a thriving trade” (BPG Introduction). However, this aim may be more ambitious than it first appears.
A HOLISTIC VIEW OF TRANSPORT PLANNING
The BPG proposes a strong link between licensing of taxis and private hire vehicles and Local Transport Plans (LTPs). The BPG contains the following quote: “All modes of transport including taxi and private hire vehicle services have a valuable part to play in the provision of local transport, and so licensing authorities are likely to have a role to play in delivering LTPs.”
Current Local Transport Plans typically make little more than a passing reference to taxis and private hire vehicles. Occasionally, LTPs make little or no mention at all! This issue was identified by DfT in the past [Taxis within Local Transport Plans, 2002]
When we consider the context of decreasing bus patronage, pressure on bus service subsidy levels and cuts to bus services, despite increasing subsidies and new funding, it is perhaps not surprising that some feel that reliance on licensed vehicle services has increased for many users, who face more limited availability of other public transport modes.
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Furthermore, the cost of bus travel has increased above inflation in recent years. Consequently, the availability of taxis and private hire vehicles to provide transport services to localities where bus services have been cut, should certainly be taken into account when developing a Local Transport Plan. There are opportunities for licensed vehicle services to provide more efficient alternatives to lightly used bus services, especially in rural areas. Potentially, such services could more efficiently redeploy subsidies, in order to provide enhanced levels of provision.
Roads, rail, buses and licensed vehicles all fall within the remit of the DfT, therefore, it is natural that they would seek to harmonise licensed vehicle provision within the wider transport supply. However, licensing departments rarely have much of a role to play within the wider transport planning field. Taxi and private hire vehicle licensing forms a part of the overall licensing portfolio but is often a relatively minor component of licensing, within councils. Consequently, the logistics of expanding consideration of licensed vehicles within Local Transport Plans is not necessarily a simple matter.
INTEGRATED SERVICE The BPG encourages authorities to
consider
‘Integrated Service Plans’ and review of rank provision. It is recommended that the provision of ranks should be subject to regular review. Such reviews are currently relatively rare. It also suggests that unmet demand methodology may be of significant value in determining unmet demand with respect to accessibility needs, particularly levels of wheelchair accessible style vehicles. Again, this is not a trivial task but can be undertaken over a series of developing levels as resources permit. Accessibility improvement measures can also attract novel funding from outside licensing budgets.
RANK REVIEWS
The BPG encourages licensing authorities to demonstrate contemporary knowledge of levels of service provision, including rank reviews. A review of rank provision is likely to encompasses several aspects. Some ranks work well and are popular with both users and drivers, owing to several factors such as location, rank capacity, ease of access and proximity to generators of demand. However, other ranks may be
DECEMBER 2023 PHTM
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