Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Roads and Local
Transport (): The government recognises
the important role that taxis and private hire vehicles
(PHVs) play in the
wider transport network. The Taxis and Private Hire
Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022 applies in
England and requires better information-sharing between taxi and
PHV licensing
authorities to ensure that unfit drivers cannot hide previous
instances of misconduct.
The first part of the act came into force on 31 May 2022
requiring licensing authorities to report safeguarding and road
safety concerns about drivers licensed by other authorities to
the licensing authority that issued the driver’s licence.
Licensing authorities that receive concerns about a driver it has
licensed must then consider whether to suspend or revoke the
driver’s licence.
Since then, the Department for Transport has been working to put
in place arrangements so the rest of the act could be brought
into force. Licensing authorities will be required to use a
database to record instances where taxi and PHV drivers have their licences
removed, suspended or refused for misconduct. When deciding
whether to grant or renew a driver licence, licensing authorities
must search the database for any entry relating to the applicant.
I am pleased to announce that the Secretary of State for
Transport has designated the National Anti-Fraud Network as the
database provider under the act. The National Anti-Fraud
Network’s voluntary database has been in use successfully for
several years. Over 70% of licensing authorities in England are
already using the database to vet their driver licence
applicants.
From today (27 April 2023), using the database is compulsory. The
National Anti-Fraud Network will grant access to the database to
all the relevant taxi and private hire vehicle licensing bodies
in the UK. Government is covering the cost of administering this
vital safeguarding database.
Requiring the use of the database across England will ensure that
licensing authorities have more of the information they need to
make the correct decisions, preventing drivers who could do harm
getting a license elsewhere without being challenged. This change
will help protect passengers, and the reputations of the vast
majority of drivers, from those who are unfit to hold a licence.
This vital improvement to passenger safety builds on wider work
this government is doing to protect the public, with the
commitment to prioritise prevention, support survivors and
strengthen the pursuit of those who abuse their position of
trust. This includes the new Grooming Gangs Taskforce the Prime
Minister announced to root out and put more perpetrators behind
bars. We are also fundamentally transforming victims’ experiences
through the new Victims and Prisoners Bill, amplifying their
voices and strengthening their care.
