Can out-of-area taxi drivers in Scotland offer short-term relief as school transport pressures deepen?
- Perry Richardson
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
The increasing use of out-of-area licensed taxi drivers to fulfil school and care transport contracts is emerging as a short-term fix to a deeper structural problem, as local authorities across the UK struggle with rising costs, driver shortages and growing demand.
Recent moves by councils such as East Lothian Council to open contract frameworks to drivers licensed in other areas reflect an urgent need to plug gaps in provision. However, wider industry data suggests the approach may not address the underlying pressures driving the crisis.
Home-to-school transport demand has surged in recent years, particularly for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Local authority spending reached £2.25 billion in 2023-24 and is projected to rise further, with costs increasing by more than 60% in just three years due to higher demand and reliance on specialist transport, including taxis and private hire vehicles.
Taxis play a critical role in this system, especially for pupils requiring tailored, door-to-door journeys. Yet councils are finding it increasingly difficult to secure enough compliant drivers. In some cases, contracts remain unfilled or are awarded at significantly higher cost due to limited supply, particularly in rural and semi-rural areas.
Councils face growing costs and driver shortages, raising questions over whether cross-border licensing can sustainably support vital services
Allowing out-of-area drivers into local contract frameworks expands the available workforce and can improve competition in procurement exercises. This flexibility is already embedded in national legislation, where drivers can operate outside their licensing authority under certain conditions, and has become common practice in parts of England.
However, the approach remains controversial. The UK Government has already signalled its intention to curb out-of-area working as part of wider taxi licensing reform proposals, citing concerns over inconsistent safety standards and enforcement between local authorities.
A parliamentary inquiry into taxi and private hire licensing has also highlighted how cross-border licensing has created a fragmented regulatory landscape, with significant numbers of drivers operating far from the authority that issued their licence. This has raised concerns not only around passenger safety but also around accountability and oversight, particularly for vulnerable passengers using contracted school transport.
Industry analysis indicates that while out-of-area drivers can temporarily ease supply shortages, they do little to resolve the root causes of the problem. These include declining numbers of locally licensed drivers, increasing regulatory complexity, and a structural rise in demand linked to SEND provision and school placement distances.
There is also a financial dimension. Heavy reliance on taxis and private hire vehicles has been identified as a key driver of escalating transport costs, with some individual placements costing thousands of pounds per week. Expanding the pool of drivers may improve availability, but it does not necessarily reduce the underlying cost pressures.
Longer-term solutions are likely to require systemic reform rather than operational workarounds. Policy discussions are increasingly focused on standardising licensing rules, investing in local transport capacity, and reducing the need for long-distance travel through better planning of school placements and SEND provision.
For now, councils appear to have little choice but to widen access to their transport frameworks in order to maintain statutory services. But as demand continues to rise and regulatory reform looms, the reliance on out-of-area taxi drivers is likely to remain a stopgap rather than a sustainable fix.
