Parliamentary group wants Mayors to have the power to curb private hire vehicles

In its report published this week, the UK Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Taxis calls on the Government to give the Mayor of London, and other Mayors, the power to cap the number of private hire vehicles (PHVs) on London’s streets, stop cross border hiring and set out a robust set of minimum licensing standards for taxis and PHVs across the country.
July 14, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

In its report published this week, the UK Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Taxis calls on the Government to give the Mayor of London, and other Mayors, the power to cap the number of private hire vehicles (PHVs) on London’s streets, stop cross border hiring and set out a robust set of minimum licensing standards for taxis and PHVs across the country.

GMB, the union for private hire and taxi drivers, welcomed the report, saying a cap would improve the quality of life for drivers and hopefully reduce the hours that drivers are forced to work.

It claims that without a cap the industry could well see further exploitation of drivers by companies such as Uber and Addison Lee who attempt to deny their drivers any worker or employment rights in order to maximise profit and avoid their obligations to contribute to the public purse.

Tony Warr, head of Legal, GMB London Region, said, “Private hire drivers already work in very precarious conditions and while overall we welcome the report it was disappointing to note operators licensing will not be conditional on drivers receiving even the basic of employment rights."

The report also calls for the creation of a statutory definition of cross border hiring whereby a journey must “begin or end in the licensing authority where the licence was issued”, as well as consultation on statutory guidance for taxi and PHV licensing and a robust set of minimum licensing standards for all licensing authorities.

Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • Europe agrees on polluter-pays principle for truck tolls
    May 16, 2012
    EU Member States will in future have the right to apply the polluter-pays principle when setting road tolls on trucks and lorries. They will be able to levy charges for external costs and vary tariffs in order to ease congestion during peak hours and to encourage fleet renewal. Earmarking of revenues for transport infrastructure was the key point of an informal deal reached on Monday evening between Parliament and Council representatives on the revised Eurovignette directive.
    Read More
  • Safe-driver training reduces costs, increases safety
    February 3, 2012
    Hermes, one of Europe's leading home delivery specialists, and part of the Otto group's European logistics division, estimates that introducing a range of safe-driving measures in its UK operations have contributed to a US$1.5 million cost saving to the business in the 12 months to April 2010.
    Read More
  • Texas, Oklahoma move to interoperable tolling
    April 25, 2013
    Electronic toll systems in Texas and Oklahoma could be interoperable as soon as 2014, according to toll authorities from both states. Moves to link tolling systems in Texas and Oklahoma will enable drivers with Texas tolling accounts or Oklahoma turnpike accounts to travel on the other state’s toll roads using their current toll tags. The tolls would be automatically billed to the out-of-state driver’s account. “Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin said it would be good to have interoperability with other states,
    Read More
  • Rating agency Standard and Poor Tolling sees a bright future for tolling
    September 6, 2017
    Few disruptions appear on the horizon for global toll road operators, with the US poised to become a better bet for major investment, according to ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P’s) Global Ratings’ 2017 report, which rates toll road operators according to their ability to raise capital. The outlook is generally stable for business conditions and credit quality for toll roads worldwide. One positive exception is the US where the overall outlook is ‘positive’ as S&P expects traffic growth to increase
    Read More

Highlighted Content