Baroness Pidgeon BACKS cross-border taxi and PHV enforcement reforms, but calls for full licensing overhaul
- Perry Richardson
- 47 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Baroness Caroline Pidgeon has welcomed new enforcement powers aimed at tackling cross-border taxi and private hire working, while warning that more comprehensive legislative reform remains necessary.
The Liberal Democrat peer told TaxiPoint that recent government amendments to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill mark progress in addressing long-standing regulatory gaps. The changes will allow licensing authorities to take immediate action against drivers, vehicles and operators working outside their home areas where safety concerns arise.
Baroness Pidgeon told TaxiPoint: “It is clear the current taxi and private hire legislation is increasingly in need of extensive reform. In the meantime, I have secured Government amendments to the Devolution Bill which start to tackle some of the loopholes that exist around cross border hiring.”
Under the revised framework, enforcement officers will be able to suspend licences for up to 48 hours regardless of which authority issued them. The home licensing authority must then investigate and determine whether further action, including suspension or revocation, is required within a set timeframe.
Pidgeon added: “The Government amendments, which followed my own amendments at Committee stage, will allow for any enforcement officer to take action against any driver, vehicle or even operator, if there are safety concerns – regardless of where they have received their licence. A licence can be suspended for 48 hours. The home licensing authority would then have to look into the issue and take action as appropriate.”
The measures were a central focus of House of Lords debate, where ministers argued the reforms would strengthen passenger safeguards and improve accountability across local authority boundaries. The changes respond to persistent concerns about drivers licensed in. one area operating predominantly in another, often beyond the effective reach of local enforcement teams.
Transport Minister Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill said the Government had “listened to the concerns raised” and introduced provisions enabling officers to “take immediate action against any licence, irrespective of which authority issued it”. He added that the reforms are intended to ensure suspected unsafe operators and drivers are identified and reported more effectively.
Baroness Pidgeon described the amendments as a positive development but stressed they should be viewed as an interim solution. “This is a good measure to help close some of the safeguarding gaps, but clearly a more detailed root and branch review will be necessary and I hope the Government will look to bring forward legislation at the earliest opportunity,” she said.
The reforms also introduce a formal duty on licensing authorities to share information on breaches of national standards with the issuing authority, alongside new data collection requirements to monitor enforcement activity. Ministers have indicated this will support a more consistent regulatory approach across England.
The debate highlighted broad cross-party agreement on the need to address enforcement challenges linked to cross-border working, an issue also raised in the Casey Review into group-based child sexual exploitation. However, questions remain over how the new powers will be applied in practice, particularly in relation to operators and the evidential threshold required for immediate suspension.
While the amendments were approved without a vote, the Government has signalled that further engagement with the sector is ongoing. The current measures form part of what ministers describe as an initial package, with the prospect of wider reforms to modernise taxi and private hire legislation still under consideration.
