New standards to improve safety for taxi and private hire vehicle passengers

Passengers travelling in taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs), including app-based services, will be kept safer under tough new licensing standards introduced by the Government, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced today (Tuesday 21 July).

The new Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards, which local authorities will be expected to implement, are designed to improve consistency in the licensing system, reducing the risk of harm posed to children and vulnerable passengers in the process – following historic serious cases of taxi and PHV drivers abusing their position of trust.

Criminal record checks for drivers every six months form a key part of the standards, as does safeguarding training to help drivers identify and respond to passengers that may be being abused or exploited. A recommendation for licensing authorities to consider whether the use of CCTV would be beneficial or proportionate in their areas is also included, which sets out that potential privacy issues must be taken into account.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

“We know the majority of drivers provide an important and safe service for communities, but in light of appalling incidents in places like Rochdale, Oxford, Newcastle and Rotherham, more must be done to protect passengers from those who abuse their position of trust.

“That’s why we’re looking to licensing authorities to enforce these rigorous new standards – ensuring drivers are fit to transport passengers in a safe environment and to stop those who aren’t.

“We expect all licensing authorities to implement the standards and won’t hesitate to introduce legislation if they don’t fulfil their responsibilities to keep the public safe.”

Following extensive consultation across government as well as with industry and regulators, the strengthened measures will mean all drivers applying for a licence should now be required to disclose if they hold or have previously held a licence in another area. Local authorities will also now have to have robust reporting systems in place to make sure passengers feel comfortable reporting incidents and or suspicious behaviour. This follows the Casey Report which found there was inadequate investigation of some complaints in Rotherham.

Licensing authorities will be expected to fully implement these measures as soon as possible. The Department will closely monitor progress, work with authorities not meeting their responsibilities, and look to introduce legislation if licensing authorities fail to adopt the standards and update their operations.

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Editor’s notes

• Licensing authorities will be expected to fully implement these measures as soon as possible, ensuring this rapidly evolving sector is better regulated.
• The Government are committed to holding licencing authorities to account and will monitor their progress closely.
• The Government has also published its response to the consultation on the measures in the Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle consultation which has also been published today.
• The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) provides access to criminal record information through its disclosure services for England and Wales. Under the new statutory standards, DBS checks for drivers should be carried out every six months.
• The Statutory Standards apply to licensing authorities and contains measures aimed at taxi and PHV drivers and operators as well as licensing and booking staff.
• We must also consider ways to increase passengers’ safety whilst balancing privacy concerns around the potential use of CCTV. The Statutory Standards are clear that authorities should undertake a comprehensive review to assess whether CCTV would be beneficial and proportionate in their area and to take into account potential privacy issues. It will be up to licensing authorities to determine if and how CCTV could be deployed.