Swansea cabbie fears cross-border taxi gap is putting women at risk as union begins lobbying at Westminster
- Perry Richardson
- Feb 25
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 27
A Swansea taxi driver has highlighted fresh concerns over cross-border private hire licensing, warning that current rules are creating safety risks for passengers and limiting the ability of councils to intervene.
Clare Johnson, a licensed taxi driver in Swansea, said the most pressing issue linked to out-of-area working is passenger safety. Her comments follow growing national debate around cross-border hiring and calls for tighter regulation after the review led by Baroness Louise Casey highlighted safeguarding failings in parts of the system.
Johnson said vehicles licensed by Swansea Council can be stopped and checked at any time within the city to ensure compliance and confirm the driver matches their identification. However, she said the same roadside scrutiny cannot be applied to vehicles licensed by other authorities but operating locally.
“In Swansea, vehicles such as mine that are licensed to be operated there can be stopped and checked at any point on the road to make sure they are compliant and even to make sure the driver matches their ID,” Johnson said. “But if a car is licensed in another area, this can’t happen.”
Taxi driver says lack of local enforcement powers leaves passengers exposed and drivers frustrated
Under existing legislation, enforcement powers largely rest with the licensing authority that issued the badge. This means councils may have limited authority to act against drivers licensed elsewhere, even if they are working extensively within their boundaries. Industry representatives have argued this creates enforcement gaps and inconsistent safety standards.
Johnson believes some drivers are exploiting those gaps. “If councils don’t have this authority to check these vehicles, it can be really dangerous,” she said, adding that there is “so much evidence out there that bad drivers are exploiting this loophole for criminality”.
Her concerns extend beyond her professional role. “I’ve got a daughter in her 20s who likes to go out and it worries me that she will get into one of these taxis and something could happen,” she said. “There is no traceability.” Johnson added that she has seen vehicles operating in Swansea without local licences and has raised the matter with the council, but feels little has changed.
She also recounted an incident described to her by a female passenger. “One female customer told me a taxi driver from a different area had come to her door a few days after taking her home in his cab to ask her out on a date, which made her feel very uncomfortable,” Johnson said. While no further incident occurred, she said the episode demonstrated the potential risks when drivers operate beyond the effective reach of local oversight.
The Department for Transport has previously committed to reforms aimed at addressing concerns around out-of-area working, but proposals have stopped short of introducing a mandatory start or finish rule requiring journeys to begin or end in the area where the driver is licensed. Trade unions and some driver groups argue that without stronger national standards and enhanced local enforcement powers, councils will remain constrained.
Johnson questioned why further action has not yet been taken. “I can’t understand why the government is not doing anything about this situation,” she said. “You wonder how many tragedies have to happen before things will change.”
The debate over cross-border hiring continues to divide the sector, with large operators arguing that flexibility supports consumer choice and supply, while drivers such as Johnson say regulatory inconsistencies are eroding safety and trust at a local level.
Taxi drivers from Unite the Union will gather in Westminster today to lobby MPs to implement Baroness Casey’s recommendations on cross-border taxi and private hire operations, citing ongoing concerns around passenger safety.
The demonstration follows the publication in June of the independent review led by Baroness Louise Casey into group-based child sexual exploitation, which found that inconsistencies in taxi and private hire licensing were placing women and children at risk and required urgent reform. Unite said that despite the safeguarding issues identified, comprehensive legislative change has yet to be introduced.
Union members are due to assemble from 11am and will call on MPs to table Parliamentary questions referencing the Casey review and the issue of out-of-area working. They are also seeking backing for legislative amendments to introduce national standards and strengthen local enforcement powers, as well as a defined timetable for reform from Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander.
