Private hire and taxi
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GOVERNMENT RESPONDS TO TASK AND FINISH REPORT
On Tuesday 12 Feb- ruary 2019, the Dep- artment for Trans- port published the response issued by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, Nusrat Ghani, to the 34 recommenda- tions put forward by the Task and Finish Group on taxi and private hire licensing. The Chair of the group,
focus the increased importance of the role of
licensing Professor
Mohammed Abdel- Haq, submitted the re-port, with individ- ual annexes con- tributed by group members,
to the
Secretary of State for Transport in July 2018; the report was published in Sep- tember 2018. Also on 12 February 2019 the Govern- ment put out to consultation a draft Statutory Guidance document for licens- ing authorities en- titled “Taxi and Pri- vate Hire Vehicle Licensing: Protecting Users”. This docu- ment brings into
authorities in raising awareness via insti- gating training for taxi and private hire licence holders in recognising the signs of CSAE (child sexual abuse and exploita- tion); as well as examining a multi- tude of other sec- urity measures for public protection. With reference to the Statutory Guidance, Nusrat Ghani said: “These rules would make sure that drivers are fit to carry passengers, keeping people safe while stopping those with bad intentions from getting behind the wheel of a taxi or minicab.” The Government’s response to the 34 recommendations ad- dresses the primary concern of the Task and Finish Group, and indeed that of local authority li- censing sub-commit- tees, licensing dep-
artments, and the entire industry: the safety of the travel- ling public. The response accepts the three key measures recommended to achieve a safe ser- vice for passengers: • National Minimum Standards
• National Enforce- ment Powers; and
• A National Licens- ing Database
Recommendations encompassing these three measures were virtually agreed un- animously amongst the group members; this agreement is also echoed uniform- ly amongst members of the industry who have voiced their views so far. Other key issues under examination and further consider- ation with a view to new legislation in- clude the recom- mendation around tackling cross-bor- der working, en- compassing ways in which it might work in detail. This is the
‘biggy’, which will require much more debate and delibera- tion before a solution can be arrived at to the satisfaction of all concerned. Go to the PHTM website:
www.phtm.co.uk for full links to all the rel- evant Government documentation. You will find inside this edition of PHTM a full analysis of the 34 recommenda- tions
and the
Government’s res- ponse, along with our initial reflections on what it all means – and a request to PHTM readers to get in touch to let us know what it all means to you. The Department for Transport has stress- ed that they will wel- come
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SERVICES
Mar2019
Issue318
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