“I will say more in the not too distant future” says Shapps on support for taxis during pandemic

The Transport Secretary will “say more in the not too distant future” about new support for taxi and private hire drivers during the pandemic.

The announcement comes following a transport debate at the House of Commons on Thursday. The Secretary was asked directly about the impact of COVID-19 on the taxi industry and what his plans were for the future.

The Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps MP, also defended claims that new Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards released this summer were “weak”.

In the new measures released earlier this summer, criminal record checks for drivers every 6 months formed a key part of the standards, as did 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 was also included, which set out that potential privacy issues must be taken into account.

Danial Zeichner, Labour MP for Cambridge, asked the Transport Secretary: “There are over 360,000 licensed taxi and private hire drivers in England, and the sector has been very hard hit. What assessment has the Secretary of State made of the impact on the sector, and will he tell us how he plans to measure the impact of his rather disappointingly weak statutory guidance issued back in July?”

Grant Shapps, responded: “The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right about the impact, and the same is true of many other forms of transport. I pay tribute to the work of taxi drivers and private hire vehicle drivers, who have been incredible during this crisis and have often provided the only form of transport available for people in certain areas.

“The statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards have considerable teeth, because for the first time ever we will have national databases, and we will put enormous work into ensuring that all local authorities and hackney carriage authorities sign up to those and use them.

“I will say more in the not too distant future about our support for taxis and private hire vehicles through the pandemic.”