Written evidence submitted by Burnley Council (TPV0098)

Burnley Council as a Licensing Authority welcomes the opportunity to submit observations and evidence to the Transport Committee Inquiry announced on 16 July to investigate how standards for taxis and private hire industries can be improved.

In recent years Burnley has seen a decline in the number of private hire drivers/ vehicles licensed by the Council. This has had a direct financial impact on the Council. A copy of recent reports to the Councils Licensing Committee* provides details of the complexities of decision making in regard to this matter.

In relation to the specific questions posed by the Inquiry Burnley Councils comments are as below      

1. Do current licensing arrangements and tools enable local authorities to effectively regulate and oversee the taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) sector across England, in terms of safety, accessibility and quality of service? If not, what improvements could be made?  

Response

No, Burnley Council considers the reasons for this are multifaceted

• The primary legislation used to regulate the taxi and private hire industry is outdated and does not provide adequate provision for public safety having regard to the technology now widely used in the industry.
• The growth nationally in “out of town” hirings is compliant with current legislation, allowing bookings to be logged remotely with the appropriate private hire operator. The practical difficulty of this practice is in terms of compliance and monitoring in that “authorised officers” from the licensing authority cannot effectively operate on a national basis. It is recognised that licensing authorities with high numbers of private hire licence holders do have satellite enforcement teams, however the logistics of responding promptly to out of area complaints, or local intelligence gathering is hampered by the remote working. In Burnley local knowledge and contact between the licensed trade and Council is deemed valuable in terms of compliance activities.
• The financial costs of cross authority authorisation of local licensing officers as advocated in the DfT Statutory taxi and private hire guidance (para 9.1) is not addressed in any current guidance.
• The Department for Transports own Statutory guidance – Statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards, outlines in Chapter 3 how the high standards now required by Rotherham Councils Licensing service is rebuilding public confidence, more recently however there has been considerable media attention as to how the proliferation of cross border hiring is now undermining the good practice introduced in Rotherham. The efforts of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to introduce common minimum licensing standards across Greater Manchester have also been undermined by the effect of cross border working. The statement released by the DfT on 16 July makes specific reference to the 9000 drivers who reside in Greater Manchester but are licensed with Wolverhampton Council.
• In terms of accessibility of vehicles to suit all passenger needs, historically the ability of hackney carriages being able to “ply for hire” and utilise hackney ranks provided a distinct trading advantage over the private hire trade. In effect hackneys were the only vehicles available for immediate hiring, this trading advantage meant that local authorities’ policies were able to require the provision of more expensive wheelchair accessible vehicles (as compared to saloon vehicles). The provision of digital ride hailing apps has largely eroded the trading advantages of hackney carriages and the hackney carriage industry is in decline. This is evidenced by the DfT’s own statistics which show a decreasing no of hackneys and increasing numbers of private hire nationally (DfT stats HCV  England excluding London 2015 = 53,700 and 2024 =41,600, PHV England excluding London 2015 -103,800 2024 =164,000). The additional cost of wheelchair accessible vehicles means that they are not competitive to the industry (there is a recognised contract business for wheelchair accessible vehicles – but in general terms this means that such vehicles are often not available for public or private hire especially at times of high demand). Any new legislation needs to consider a mechanism for incentivising specialist vehicles into the market to improve accessibility for people with specific transport needs.    

In terms of improvements

• Consideration be given to the introduction of national standards, and that such standards should be at the higher level (as per Rotherham) to protect public safety rather than the lower standards of what tends to be the preferred authority
• Although the DfT in ‘Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing Best Practice Guidance for Licensing Authorities in England’ (Section 8.4 – Vehicle Age Limits) allude to arbitrary vehicle age limits being inappropriate, consideration should be given to analysing vehicle test results to see if there is evidential correlation between the standards of vehicles when presented for test and the age of the vehicle. Burnley has recently carried out such analysis. The results are attached*. Exceptional condition criteria could be utilised to deal with the issue of “arbitrary vehicle age limits”
• The Licensing Act 2003 is an example of where there is a national framework in respect of application requirements, licensing fees, some standard licensing conditions. Within the LA03 there is a requirement for personal licence holders to licence in the authority in which they reside. This principal could be considered in terms of driver licensing albeit that on renewal if the licence holder has moved addresses, then it may be appropriate for them to relicense with their residential authority at renewal.
• New primary legislation is required to provide the necessary safeguards to deal with the safety issues that arise from remote working away from private hire operators. It is recognised that Uber has introduced some additional safeguarding measures however appropriate safeguarding measures across all types of taxi and private hire businesses needs to be incorporated into legislation. As private hire drivers become more remote from private hire operators and one to one contact is reduced, the opportunity for unlicensed drivers to log onto systems is increased.                          

2. What is the impact on the travelling public and drivers of variation between licensing authorities? Is reform needed to bring greater standardisation?

Response

• Whilst using taxis and private hire the public may take certain steps to protect themselves, for example by choosing where to sit in a vehicle, to check that the vehicle details replicate those provided by the operator etc, however they cannot generally assess the safety of the vehicle. There is an assumption that the licensing authority and the driver have conducted the necessary checks and maintenance. An older vehicle travelling 40,000+ miles per year, subject to a single MOT, will require substantial maintenance 
• In general terms, the “preferred” licensing authorities tend to be authorities that have more relaxed licensing standards. Historically this may have been the absence of driver knowledge tests/ assessments. It is ability to obtain a drivers licence that tend to direct the preferred choice of licensing authority, although favourable vehicle standards may be a valid consideration. Does this practice promote the primary function of taxi licencing which is Public safety?
• In view of the above Burnley Council considers that yes reform is needed to bring about greater standardisation      

3. What would be the practical implications for licensing authorities and operators of more stringent or standardised licensing conditions in respect of safety, accessibility, vehicles and driver conduct? .

Response.

For Licensing Authorities

More stringent / Standardisation of licensing condition would mean

• Additional protections in place for public safety (including driver safety) e.g. CCTV
• Facilitate an improved/ transferable skill base of local authority licensing officers
• Facilitate more effective secondment of officers between licensing authorities
• Stabilise the current local exodus and influx of private hire driver and vehicle licensing numbers which is largely driven by the standards applied by each licensing authority. The instability and rapid change in numbers makes it difficult to manage effective service delivery 

For Operators

• There would be no “preferred licensing authorities”.
• The practical need for subcontracting work to a second operator licence held in a preferred authority area would be eliminated
• Operators holding multiple licences across the country would know that the same standards applied throughout the country, this may assist recruitment of licensed drivers/vehicles to work from preferred private hire operators. It could also impact on retention of drivers/ vehicles licence holders – please see comment below re drivers and vehicle licence holders

For drivers and vehicle licence holders

• There may be cost implications associated with meeting standardised licensing conditions
• They could choose to relocate to other areas of the country knowing that the same standards would apply

Accessibility

• The Council is unclear as to how improved accessibility to adapted vehicles, especially wheelchair accessible vehicles can be achieved, as already outlined the additional purchase and running costs associated with these vehicles, generally means that they are not an attractive business opportunity for mainstream hackney carriage and private hire work (acknowledging the previous comment already made regarding contract work)   

4. What steps should the Government take to address the challenges posed by cross-border licensing in the taxi and PHV sector?  

Response

• A review of primary legislation
• Public safety being the primary objective of any changes introduced
• Consideration as to designation/ functions of licensing authorities

5. What would effective reform look like in terms of enforcement, passenger safety and safeguarding, and regulatory consistency? Is there a role for regional transport authorities?  

Response

• Although the Licensing Act 2003 has been quoted in an earlier response as having parity in terms of licensing conditions fees etc, it is recognised that in general terms the Licensing Act deals with fixed premises/ locations. This is different to the taxi and private hire trade which generally do not operate within the boundaries of a single licensing authority (e.g journeys to airports/ hospitals/ leisure venues etc)
• Whilst it is recognised that the cost of providing a taxi/ private hire licensing function is in part determined by licence numbers, other costs are largely fixed regardless of the licence numbers, e.g. software licence costs, completion of statutory returns, reviews of fees and charges, costs associated with hackney fare increases, training of licencing committee members etc.
• Having regard to the above two comments, there could be benefits arsing from the licensing functions being administered and enforced at a more regional level. Local intelligence could be preserved by the utilisation of localised area officers, not dissimilar to area police divisions or area DVSA offices. The Devolution white paper is considered relevant.            

6. How are digital ride-hailing platforms impacting standards in the sector, and is further regulation in this area required? 

Response

• Digital ride hailing platforms are now operated by both international and local private hire organisations. The international private hire organisations hold operator licences with a number of “preferred Licensing authorities”. This clearly gives the operator access to a large pool of private hire driver and vehicle licence holders, whilst the digital booking provision facilitates the cross-border hiring. Concerns arising from long distance cross border hiring have already been referenced within this response.
• Local operators using digital ride hailing platforms do not give rise to the same concerns as local intelligence, and local authorised licensing officers have greater opportunity to identify concerns.
• It is recognised that the digital ride hailing platforms do provide some enhancements in terms of public safety. In general terms they facilitate the customer to remain in the safety of their pick up location as opposed to walking to a taxi rank, going into the street to hail a cab or walking to a local private hire office, this is especially relevant to the night time economy.
• A further enhancement of the digital ride hailing platforms is that customers are often provided with vehicle and driver details in advance of the start of the journey, this can enable customers to check that they only access the correct vehicle and to a lesser extent the driver. Feedback opportunities are also considered a good practice
• The requirement to prepay on a digital ride hailing app, can be beneficial in locations of high demand, e.g. airports, concert venues, stadiums etc. Only the customer who has made the booking knows the vehicle details, this then reduces the opportunity for a “swarm of people” approaching private hire vehicles as they pull up. The reduction in vehicle markings also assist in this process.
• Further regulation is suggested in terms of measures to be put in place by the private hire operator to ensure that only the licensed driver insured to drive the vehicle is driving the vehicle at any time. It is acknowledged that the reduction in personal contact between the operator and the licensed driver together with the sharing of login details by the driver offers an increased opportunity for unlicensed drivers. It is recognised that international ride hailing apps have put some measures in place to address this circumstance            

7. How effective, accessible, and trusted are complaints and incident reporting systems in the taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) sector, for both passengers and drivers? 

Response

• DfT Statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards provides guidance on this at Chapter 9 Para 9.2 and Chapter 13 Annex. Council websites are usually relatively easy to navigate but it is acknowledged that not every person will have the capabilities to report relevant matters to the Council. Failings related to safeguarding / incidents or serious misconduct may be reported to the police in the first instance but effective partnership working means that these matters will be promptly forwarded to the Licensing Authority. Examples can be provided if this would be helpful.
• Licensed drivers must satisfactorily complete training and assessment as part of the licensing application process. The training should cover reporting of incidents, dealing with conflict etc. It is acknowledged that on occasions the licensed trade may not be satisfied with the response they receive from the Licensing Authority or partner agencies.    

8. How effective is the National Register of Licence Revocations and Refusals (NR3) in supporting consistent licensing decisions across local authorities? What barriers, if any, are limiting its use or impact? 

Response  

• NR3S is useful in the driver licensing process. It improves and assists in the determination of the fit and proper test.
• Consideration should be given to extending the provision to private hire operators and vehicle proprietors. Some vehicle proprietors have a very poor record in terms of vehicle maintenance or failing to have appropriate insurance in place throughout the vehicles licence period, this may result in suspension/ revocation or refusal of a vehicle proprietors licence. Whilst this information can be used to inform future decisions at a local level, it is not currently subject to the same level of information sharing as driver revocations/ refusals and suspensions.
• It is recognised that broadening the scope of NR3S will have cost implications for licensing authorities both in terms of inputting data and checking the register, there will also be cost implications for NAFN. Such costs would need to be reflected in licence fees      

9. What are the implications for taxi and PHV licensing of the future rollout of autonomous vehicles? 

Response

• Burnley Council does not consider it has any evidence in this subject that can assist the enquiry

September 2025

*Note: Where other Council documents have been referenced as part of this submission, they have been sent to the DfT separately by e-mail.