NPHTA UPDATE...NPHTA UPDATE


However, where a council had clear evidence demonstrating deteriorating vehicle standards or repeated MOT/compliance failures, it could potentially impose a stricter local requirement.


In other words, national consistency at the base level, while allowing justified local variation where there is evidence to support it.


That principle is going to be extremely important.


The work has already started The initial discussions have been followed by lengthy working sessions throughout June, July and August with the Department for Transport.


A wide range of stakeholders have been involved, including local authorities, trade representative bodies - including your very own NPHTA - disability organisations, national safeguarding organisations and many others.


The scale of the discussions should not be underestimated.


Take vehicle licensing alone. Among the issues requiring consideration are:


1. Vehicle entry and exit age limits. 2. Frequency of vehicle testing. 3. Whether licensing compliance


One suggestion was whether private hire operators should be subject to a WAV quota - for example, requiring an operator with ten or more vehicles to provide one wheelchair accessible vehicle for every ten vehicles operated.


That suggestion met with strong opposition, both from NPHTA and from the local authorities present.


Another question was whether the hackney carriage sector should ultimately become 100% wheelchair accessible. While there was some support for this approach, the majority were against it.


Why? Because policy cannot ignore practical consequences.


Forcing every taxi proprietor to purchase a wheelchair accessible vehicle could impose substantial additional costs upon a sector where, in many areas, demand simply does not justify a 100% WAV fleet.


The unintended consequence could be a significant reduction in hackney carriage numbers.


And if taxis disappear from the road because proprietors can no longer justify the cost of replacing them, accessibility has not improved. It has actually been reduced - not only for disabled passengers, but for the travelling public generally.


tests should


continue separately or whether an actual MOT certificate could finally be issued, potentially removing duplicated cost and inconvenience.


4. Tinted windows - and whether we could finally see an end to the confusing variations in permitted percentages.


5. First-aid kits and fire extinguishers - and whether these should continue to be mandatory in licensed vehicles nationally.


6. Seating configurations for larger vehicles. And that is only one part of the discussion.


Wheelchair accessible vehicles – one size does not fit all


One area we have discussed in considerable detail is accessibility. A half-day session took place during August, with several potential options on the table.


PHTM SEPTEMBER 2026


We also highlighted another problem: councils have duties surrounding lists of designated wheelchair accessible vehicles, but simply counting licensed WAVs does not necessarily tell you how many are genuinely available to the public.


Some may be specialist vehicles dedicated to Special Educational Needs (SEN) transport; others may be committed to contract work.


Some drivers may operate under restricted licences permitting only certain types of work, such as school transport or airport journeys.


Those vehicles may therefore never be available for immediate public hire or even ordinary pre-booked journeys.


A list of WAVs is not the same thing as a list of available WAVs.


That distinction matters when assessing whether an area genuinely has adequate accessible transport provision.


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