TAXI & PH BILL OBSERVATIONS
existing databases, but for this to be effective their use must become mandatory in order to support proportionate and lawful information sharing across authorities, operators, and the public. l The Law Commission stated: “The outdated legislative framework has become too extensive in some respects, imposing unnecessary burdens on business and artificially restricting the range of services available to consumers; and insufficiently comprehensive in
In our view, it is important to remember that Baroness Casey’s first review took place in 2012 - three years before any suggestions of deregulation - and had nothing to do with cross-border working, or, to use the more accurate term, “predominant out-of- area use”.
Enforcement alone is unlikely to achieve meaningful change, as the powers already exist but are often underused. We need better ways
to tackle
predominant out-of-area work, which is why Intended Use Policies (IUPs) should be extended to all licence types. This approach specifically addresses out-of-area private hire work and has consistently succeeded in reducing it where implemented.
Using this approach would also support other strategies that have repeatedly failed over the last 50 years, such as the Section 75(1)(a) LGMPA approach and the ABBA approach. Without IUPs, those measures alone are unlikely to succeed.
l 52% of all taxi and PHV journeys support economic activity, education, or essential services, under- lining the importance of effective regulation.
l When licensing, enforcement powers, and resources sit with authorities that do not host the majority of the activity, enforcement capacity becomes diluted and intervention becomes more difficult.
l Safeguarding reviews consistently show that
information silos reduce the ability to identify and respond to risk.
l Current legislation does not mandate information sharing. Work is already underway to expand
PHTM JUNE 2026
other ways, undermining the fundamental goal of protecting the travelling public.”
l The Local Government Association has “long called for the urgent introduction of a comprehensive Taxi and PHV Licensing Reform Bill to replace the current outdated legislation and make the licensing system for taxis and PHVs fit for the 21st century.”
As we can see, there is a huge amount to discuss, create, develop, and ultimately adopt nationally - and then locally across the proposed 70 authorities.
unitary
Work has begun, meetings have started, and it has been suggested that this could all be completed by November this year - a huge task, with many issues still to address:
l Age limits for vehicles
l Additional vehicle requirements such as fire extinguishers, first aid kits, seating layouts, CCTV, and tinted windows
l Out-of-area predominant use (cross-border working)
l National standards l National enforcement l DBS checks l VAT treatment of the sector l Medical records and reports l Overseas records for foreign nationals l Criminal conviction policies
WATCH THIS SPACE.... 9
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