Care workers, volunteers and childminders do not need minicab licence: DfT

Volunteers, childminders and care workers will no longer have to be licensed as minicab drivers under new guidance issued by the Department for Transport.

According to the DfT, the introduction of the Road Safety Act 2006 saw some councils class such groups as minicab drivers. The Act repealed an exemption from private hire vehicle (PHV) licensing for vehicles used on contracts lasting not less than seven days.

The DfT published guidance at the time of the repeal but it has since been concluded by In-House Policy Consultants that there were too many ‘grey areas’ “where local authorities simply did not know whether or not certain vehicles should be licensed”.

The new guidance sets out which vehicles the government believes need minicab licences – and those that do not. The following groups will be exempt from having to license their vehicle:

• Private ambulances, “including emergency vehicles and vehicles which operate as part of a formal patient transport service”
• Volunteers who share their car or provide lifts as part of their voluntary duties
• Care and support worker services, “including those who care for adults in their own homes, in community settings or in residential or nursing care homes”
• Childminders who carry children as passengers as part of their duties;
• Rental car companies and garages offering ‘courtesy lift’ services for customers, “for example whilst their car is in for repair”.

The DfT said the guidance would remove “the burden on local authorities of licensing vehicles unnecessarily”.

Transport Minister Norman Baker said: “Clearly parents helping out at a play group, or carers getting people to the doctor are not minicab drivers. I hope that by publishing this new guidance today these people will be able to get on with their vital activities, without the hassle or cost of getting a minicab licence.

“Councils will also benefit by cutting out unnecessary paperwork which wastes valuable time and money.”

Colin Angel, Head of Policy and Communication at the UK Homecare Association, said it welcomed the Department for Transport guidance.

“It is an unnecessary burden to ask homecare workers to apply for a minicab licence,” he added. “We hope that councils will agree that these infrequent trips help elderly and disabled people maintain their independence and quality of life, and are not a cab service.”