SHAKE-UP INCOMING: Government talks of ‘SIGNIFICANT CHANGE’ to taxi licensing rules to tackle cross-border issues
- Perry Richardson
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
The Department for Transport is exploring ‘significant change’ to overhaul how taxi and private hire vehicle licensing is managed across England.
The move could give all local transport authorities, including larger strategic bodies, more control over taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) licensing in their area.
The proposal was revealed by Transport Minister Simon Lightwood in response to a parliamentary question from Labour MP Lorraine Beavers. She asked if the Government intended to tighten rules around Uber drivers and other private hire operators working outside the area they are licensed in.
In reply, Lightwood confirmed the Department is preparing to consult on changes that would allow licensing to be handled across broader regions. The aim is to improve the consistency of standards, strengthen enforcement and support better integration with local transport planning.
A larger-scale approach, the Minister suggested, would cut down on drivers licensing in areas with less strict controls but working elsewhere, a practice commonly known as cross-border hiring. It is a longstanding problem that many local authorities and licensed drivers have raised concerns about.
Cross-border licensing has created significant enforcement and safety challenges for years. Under current rules, once licensed, a private hire driver can legally work anywhere in England, even if that authority has different standards from the one that issued the licence. This has allowed operators like Uber to base drivers in councils with quicker or cheaper licensing processes, while operating heavily in neighbouring cities.
Local licensing officers often have no powers over vehicles and drivers licensed elsewhere, even if they are regularly working in their area. This has made it difficult to ensure consistent safety checks and vehicle standards. For taxi drivers who must be licensed by the authority where they work, it has also raised concerns of unfair competition and market over-saturation.
Lightwood said: “The Department is considering options to improve the current regulatory position in respect of taxis and private hire vehicles and will consult shortly on whether to make all local transport authorities, including Strategic Authorities, responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing.
“We believe administering taxi and private hire vehicle licensing across a larger footprint would increase the consistency of standards and enable more effective use of enforcement powers across a whole functional economic area and facilitate integrated local transport planning. Greater economies of scale should also increase the efficiency in taxi and private hire vehicle licensing and the sector. This should reduce the factors that induce people to license out of their usual working area.
“This would be a significant change for the sector, and responses to the consultation will help inform the final decision.”
