Government mulls making local transport authorities responsible for taxi and PHV licensing

The Government is to consult on making all Local Transport Authorities – including ‘Strategic Authorities’ such as combined authorities – responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing.

The proposed consultation was revealed in the English Devolution White Paper, which was published this week.

It said: “Taxis and private hire vehicles are an important part of our transport networks and some of the most vulnerable groups in our society rely on them. We recognise there are concerns about out-of-area working by private hire vehicles and are exploring how best to address these concerns.

“As part of this, we will consult on whether to make all Local Transport Authorities (including Strategic Authorities) responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing.”

The White Paper suggested that administering taxi and private hire vehicle licensing across this larger footprint would increase the consistency of standards and enable more effective use of enforcement powers across a whole functional economic area.

“Greater economies of scale should also enable authorities to improve the efficiency of licensing, reducing the incentives for people to license out of their usual working area," it added.

The White Paper acknowledged that this would be "a significant change for the sector", and said the Government would work with stakeholders to understand possible impacts before taking a final decision.

In London, taxi and private hire vehicle licensing is already the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London, it noted.