‘NO PROSPECT’ of new taxi legislation and tackling cross-border after Liz Truss drops Transport Bill

There is now ‘no prospect’ for the trade to update taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) legislation after Liz Truss dropped the Transport Bill during her short tenure as Prime Minister.

It was hoped that the Transport Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech would provide an in road for the taxi industry to set new national minimum standards and tackle issues around cross-border hiring.

Cross border hiring is a common term used to describe when a taxi is lawfully used for private hire vehicle (PHV) purposes in a district outside where it has been licensed to operate.

This is seen as a problem in many areas because there are disparities in conditions on licences; a prospective driver in one council district may apply to be licensed as a driver in another district because there are lower standards in driver testing, cheaper licence fees or less rigorous/fewer pre-licence checks.

Steve McNamara, LTDA General Secretary, said in TAXI Newspaper: “Amidst all this turmoil, the Truss government also quietly dropped the promised Transport Bill and there is now no prospect of a much-needed update to taxi and PHV legislation required to set proper national minimum standards and sort out the problems caused by cross-border hiring.

“Cross-border hiring rearing its ugly head as a problem in London again, with an influx of drivers from other areas, like Wolverhampton, that issue licences like they are going out of fashion. This is something we will pick up with the new government, as soon as possible.”