The Law Commission for England and Wales, which advises the Government on law reform, has launched a public consultation seeking views on proposed changes to the way in which taxis and private hire vehicles (often referred to as minicabs) are regulated. The proposals retain the distinction between taxis – which can “ply for hire” on the street or a cab rank – and private hire vehicles which can only be pre-booked.
National standards and no limitationsBut all vehicles would be subject to national minimum safety standards and, for private hire vehicles, these would replace more than 340 sets of local regulations. This will reduce the burden on business because, once appropriately licensed, a private hire firm could work freely across the country, without geographical or licensing restrictions. This would contribute to widening consumer choice and to making services cheaper and more competitive.Few of the proposals would affect the iconic London “black cab”. But outside the capital, taxi numbers could no longer be restricted by local authorities and private hire operators would be able to take bookings outside their own local area.Licensing could be extended to limousines, motorcycle “taxis” and bicycle rickshaws (or “pedicabs”), which under current law may avoid the safety and driver training requirements imposed on taxis and private hire vehicles. But greater legal clarity would ensure that volunteers who give up their time to drive elderly people or childminders who collect children as part of their work would no longer risk being caught by licensing rules.Among the other provisional proposals is a requirement that all new taxi and private hire drivers should have disability awareness training. The consultation also asks whether there should be a specific licence for accessible vehicles.And where drivers or operators do break the rules, the consultation suggests that improved enforcement powers should be available, including impounding vehicles.The consultation is open until 10 August 2012. The Commission’s provisional proposals and consultation questions are outlined in the paper, “Reforming the law of taxi and private hire services”, which is available on the Commission’s website, http://lawcommission.justice.gov.u...ons/1804.htm
The IoL ResponseThe IoL will respond to this consultation. In order to do so, we would ask Members to share their views via our online survey which replicates the proposals and questions contained in the Law Commission consultation. This is an extremely important and potentially far reaching consultation and we would urge all our members to feed into the process by taking the time to complete the survey giving their views.
Shortly after the publication of the Institute’s report and its presentation to the Transport Committee and the DFT, the Law Commission announced its review of the existing framework of taxi and private hire vehicle regulation with a view to preparing proposals for consultation.The Law Commission website states “The current law on taxis and PHVs has been criticised for being complex and outdated.One problem is the multiplicity of legislation. Taxis, which can “ply for hire” so customers can stop them in the street, have different rules to PHVs which can only be pre-booked. In turn each of the taxi and PHV trades is regulated by multiple statutes. There are also different legal systems along geographical lines distinguishing Plymouth, London and the rest of England and Wales. Whereas some distinctions are clearly justified others are less clearly so.
Some of the legislation, particularly relating to taxis, is archaic. The key statutes date back to Victorian times and refer to “hackney carriages” when taxis were literally horse-drawn vehicles. Case law and guidance are indispensable in interpreting the law. This also makes the legislation less able to reflect more modern technology like the telephone, internet and GPS technology.”
The project
The project examines the legal framework relating to taxis and PHVs with a view to making it simpler and more modern.
The Commission aim to publish proposals for reform in April 2012.
This will be followed by a three month consultation period following which the Commission will publish a final report with recommendations and draft bill by late 2013.
James Button, Chair of the Taxi Reform Working Party and President of the Institute of Licensing said at the time:
“This report is the culmination of almost three years hard work by a dedicated team of volunteers, to whom I express my heartfelt thanks.. It is the first time that opinion on taxi use and legislation has been canvassed so widely and impartially, and it presents a picture of a vital urgent need for reform, to benefit the public, businesses, and regulators. I urge the Government to look at this archaic area of public safety regulation as a matter of priority.”
The results of the TWP work and its formal report were presented to the Transport Cttee as part of the IOL response to the enquiry which asked about cross border hiring problems with private hires, and ‘any other issues’ around taxi / private hire licensing.
The results were also formally presented to the DFT. The full report is available via the Institute’s website for members to download.
TAXI REFORM CAMPAIGN - NATIONWIDE CONSULTATION
Hackney Carriage and private hire vehicles are a vital and integral part of the transport network in the UK with:
*source – Department for Transport
The licensing of hackney carriages in particular dates back to 1847, and that for private hire vehicles to 1976. Seventeen principal Acts of Parliament, eight statutory instruments, and over 150 court decisions regulate these activities.
The Institute of Licensing has recently undertaken a substantial nationwide consultation to find out how the existing law is working for different users including drivers, operators, customers and regulators.
The overall aim was to establish if there is a need for reform of this legislation outside London, to make it fit for purpose for the 21st century. There were many reasons for embarking on this exercise, principally:
The Institute of Licensing has produced a 'Taxi Safe' poster designed to encourage more awareness amongst taxi users.The poster aims to remind users of the importance of making sure they use licensed vehicles and highlighting the dangers of bogus operators
Click on the photo below for more information about taxi laws.