Labour MP warns taxi licensing shake-up could “drive down standards” and weaken public safety in letter to Transport Secretary

Sarah Champion MP has warned the Government that proposals to overhaul taxi and private hire vehicle licensing could risk weakening local enforcement standards and undermine public safety protections if powers are transferred away from councils.

The Rotherham MP has written directly to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander raising concerns over Government proposals that could see responsibility for taxi and private hire licensing move from local authorities to combined authorities as part of wider devolution reforms.

In the letter, Champion argued that stronger national minimum licensing standards enforced at a local level would provide a more effective route to improving passenger safety than reorganising licensing structures across wider regional authorities.

Champion wrote: “Robust licensing of private hire vehicles is essential to ensuring public safety.”

Sarah Champion calls for tougher national minimum standards enforced by councils as Government considers major overhaul of taxi and private hire licensing

She added that she had urged ministers “to introduce stringent national minimum standards that are properly enforced”.

The intervention places renewed political focus on long-running concerns surrounding cross-border hiring arrangements within the private hire sector, an issue that has divided councils, operators and drivers for more than a decade.

Under current legislation, private hire drivers licensed in one authority are legally able to undertake journeys in other licensing areas provided bookings are accepted through a licensed operator. Critics argue the system has enabled some drivers and operators to seek licences from authorities perceived to have less demanding standards or lower fees.

In her letter, Champion said she had repeatedly warned successive governments about the impact of the current framework on safeguarding and local enforcement efforts.

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“As you know, I have for more than a decade raised serious concerns that the cross border working, in which there is no requirement for a private hire or taxi driver to be licensed in the authority in which they routinely operate, undermines the efforts of local authorities like Rotherham to implement robust licensing regimes to ensure public safety,” she wrote.

“A system in which prospective drivers are free to shop around for the least stringent licensing requirements is unfair to local drivers, places the public at risk and limits the ability of local authorities to confront child sexual exploitation.”

Champion also referenced concerns connected to historic child sexual exploitation failures in Rotherham and nationally, arguing that weaknesses in licensing oversight had previously been identified as contributing factors in safeguarding failures.

“The National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse identified this precise issue as undermining responses to child-sexual exploitation,” she said.

Her latest comments arrive as the Government develops the proposed Draft Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Bill, announced during the recent King’s Speech. The legislation is expected to modernise taxi and private hire laws in England, strengthen enforcement powers and improve information-sharing between licensing authorities through a national database of drivers, vehicles and operators.

The reforms are also expected to address accessibility issues and reflect changes in the sector driven by app-based booking platforms and the continued expansion of cross-border operating models.

However, Champion questioned whether transferring licensing powers to combined authorities would improve standards in practice.

“I fail to see how transferring authority for its delivery to combined authorities will achieve this goal,” she wrote.

The MP warned that councils such as Rotherham, which have adopted tougher licensing policies than neighbouring authorities, could see standards diluted under broader regional oversight arrangements.

“I am deeply troubled that such an approach in fact risks driving down standards in authorities like Rotherham, which have adopted far tougher requirements than those of their neighbours,” Champion said.

“The Local Authority has intimate knowledge of the risks in its own area, and first-hand contact with licensed drivers.”

She also cautioned that expanding enforcement responsibilities across larger geographic areas could reduce oversight effectiveness and create fresh regulatory loopholes.

“Expanding overview and enforcement out of the Borough will lose knowledge and build loopholes on oversight back into the system,” she wrote.

“Furthermore, the transfer of licensing powers could dilute enforcement efforts, by concentrating authority without providing adequate resources to cover the increased geographic area.”

The debate around national standards and local enforcement has intensified in recent years as some councils and trade groups push for tighter consistency in driver vetting, vehicle safety checks, English language standards and safeguarding requirements.

Industry stakeholders have also raised concerns about uneven enforcement activity between authorities and the growing concentration of private hire licences issued by a small number of councils whose drivers predominantly operate elsewhere.

Champion argued that any national reform package should prioritise stronger baseline standards while retaining local enforcement control.

“As I am sure you would agree, public safety must be the overriding priority of licensing regimes,” she wrote.

“I remain strongly of the view that the only way to achieve this is to implement strict, national minimum standards, based on those in force in areas like Rotherham. These standards should be enforced locally, by local licensing teams.”

The MP has requested further detail from the Department for Transport on the outcome of recent consultations, proposed implementation timelines and any plans to introduce tougher mandatory national licensing standards.

The Government has yet to publish full details on how combined authority licensing arrangements would operate or whether councils would retain any enforcement responsibilities under a revised structure.

The Department for Transport has previously said reforms are intended to modernise an outdated regulatory framework while improving passenger safety and reducing inconsistencies across the industry.