ALL THINGS LICENSING
In addition, precedented case law has long established that a licensed operator can accept bookings that start and end outside the operator’s licensing district, and that a private hire driver can undertake journeys starting anywhere as per the judgement Adur District Council v Fry (1997).
weaknesses in safeguarding arrangements and calls for immediate government action to ensure all licensing authorities are equipped so that they are able to keep children safe, regardless of where a taxi driver is licensed.
Recommendation 11 of the report says (in full):
The Department for Transport should take immediate action to put a stop to ‘out of area taxis’ and bring in more rigorous statutory standards for local authority licensing and regulation of taxi drivers.
The report can be read at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68555 9d05225e4ed0bf3ce54/National_Audit_on_Group- based_Child_Sexual_Exploitation_and_Abuse.pdf
Legal Loophole?
The ‘legal loophole’ referred to in the report which Baroness Casey has recommended to be closed, rather than being an ambiguity is actually a combination of primary legislation and case law.
The Deregulation Act 2015 allows an operator to sub- contract a job to another operator licensed by a different local authority. As such, an operator can have a booking office on a high street or on an industrial estate in one licensing authority area where there are high standards and ‘make provision’ for bookings in that area. However, they can hold another operator licence in a different area with lower standards and sub-contract every job to their operator licence where drivers are subject to less stringent requirements and fulfil journeys entirely within the area of higher standards, without having to meet any of the requirements. Provided drivers and vehicles dispatched are licensed by the same authority as the operator then no offences are committed and this is perfectly allowed. This model is used by many operators.
PHTM JULY 2025
More recent case law has also established that private hire drivers have the ‘right to roam’ following the Knowsley (2018) judgement. Again this model is also used by many operators which cover a large geographical ‘region’.
Therefore, closing the ‘loophole’ will not be straightforward and will only be achieved by new primary legislation to repeal the Deregulation Act and to enable some form of national standard and enforcement, or legislate to prevent out of area working.
So what has the Government said?
The Government has responded to the report stating that they
In its published response, specifically relating to the taxi chapter and recommendations of the report it said:
“The Department for Transport will legislate to address the important issues raised in the report, tackling the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licensing.
We will work as quickly as possible and consider all options – including out of area working, national standards and enforcement – seeking the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.
In the interim we will act urgently to make improvements, including consulting on making local transport authorities responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing, and determining how existing statutory guidance can be strengthened to further protect the public.
We are also reviewing authorities’ compliance with existing guidance and will hold those who do not follow it to account.”
57 will implement all 12 of the
recommendations, and has set out a further National Enquiry on grooming gangs.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
