Taxi and Private Hire Services
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Taxi and Private Hire Services Law Commission Taxi and Private Hire Services and Private Hire Taxi Law Com No 347 Law Com No 347 40525_Cm 8864 Cover.indd 1 20/05/2014 15:47 The Law Commission (LAW COM No 347) TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE SERVICES Presented to Parliament by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice by Command of Her Majesty May 2014 Cm 8864 © Crown copyright 2014 You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence v.2. To view this licence visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/2/ or email [email protected] Where third party material has been identified, permission from the respective copyright holder must be sought. This publication is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications Print ISBN 9781474104531 Web ISBN 9781474104548 Printed in the UK by the Williams Lea Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office ID 19051404 05/14 40525 19585 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum ii THE LAW COMMISSION The Law Commission was set up by the Law Commissions Act 1965 for the purpose of promoting the reform of the law. The Law Commissioners are: The Right Honourable Lord Justice Lloyd Jones, Chairman Professor Elizabeth Cooke David Hertzell Professor David Ormerod QC Nicholas Paines QC The Chief Executive of the Law Commission is Elaine Lorimer. The Law Commission is located at 1st Floor, Tower, 52 Queen Anne’s Gate, London SW1H 9AG. The terms of this report were agreed on 19 May 2014. The text of this report is available on the Law Commission’s website at http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/areas/taxi-and-private-hire-services.htm. iii THE LAW COMMISSION TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE SERVICES CONTENTS Paragraph Page CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION The rationale for regulating taxi and private hire services 1.1 1 The background to this project 1.6 2 The consultation 1.8 2 Wales 1.15 4 The structure of this report 1.16 4 Summary of principal recommendations 1.17 4 Acknowledgements 1.46 10 CHAPTER 2 – RETAINING THE TWO-TIER SYSTEM Introduction 2.1 11 The common regulated activity: carrying passengers in a vehicle hired with a driver 2.3 11 The rationale for a two-tier system 2.10 12 CHAPTER 3 – REDEFINING TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE SERVICES Introduction 3.1 17 Plying for hire 3.6 18 Terminology and advertising 3.24 22 iv Paragraph Page Statutory pre-booking and information obligations for private hire services 3.36 24 Taxis working out of area 3.44 26 Unofficial ranks 3.68 32 A new offence of accepting a booking “there and then” 3.71 33 Taxi-only regulatory rules 3.74 34 Intermediaries 3.99 39 Taxi radio circuits 3.114 41 Private hire operator licensing 3.128 44 A new operator definition based on dispatch functions 3.134 46 Technology 3.146 48 CHAPTER 4 – DEFINITIONS AND SCOPE Introduction 4.1 52 Geographical scope 4.2 52 Vehicles covered by taxi and private hire licensing 4.16 55 Limits to the scope of licensing 4.26 57 The interface with public service vehicles 4.53 63 Small public service vehicles 4.67 66 Larger vehicles 4.69 67 Exemptions from taxi and private hire licensing 4.81 70 Express statutory exemption for wedding and funeral cars 4.91 72 Airports 4.104 74 Leisure use 4.109 75 v Paragraph Page CHAPTER 5 – COMMON NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR VEHICLES AND DRIVERS Introduction 5.1 78 The rationale for introducing common national standards 5.6 78 Safety and national standards 5.12 80 Driver and vehicle standards 5.24 82 Statutory consultation on national standards 5.63 90 Duty on licensees to provide information 5.74 91 Who should be able to apply for a vehicle licence 5.80 92 Suitability to hold a vehicle licence 5.83 93 Criminal offences and licence conditions 5.93 95 Individual conditions 5.94 95 CHAPTER 6 – CRIMINAL OFFENCES SPECIFIC TO THE TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE TRADES Introduction 6.1 99 Outdated offences and compensation provisions in taxi and private hire legislation 6.4 99 Powers to revoke licences for non-licensing offences 6.9 100 Replacing criminal offences with national standards 6.13 101 Criminalising breaches of national standards 6.15 102 CHAPTER 7 – NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR PRIVATE HIRE Introduction 7.1 103 National standards for private hire 7.3 103 Operator/dispatcher standards 7.8 104 Record-keeping 7.16 105 Removing topographical knowledge requirements in respect of private hire drivers 7.21 107 Private hire vehicle signage 7.36 110 vi Paragraph Page Cross-border working for private hire services 7.52 112 The triple licensing requirement 7.55 113 Sub-contracting private hire dispatch services 7.69 115 CHAPTER 8 – LOCAL TAXI STANDARDS Introduction: local taxi standards 8.1 118 Limits on licensing authority powers? 8.14 120 CHAPTER 9 – FARE REGULATION Introduction 9.1 122 Maximum taxi fares 9.2 122 Pre-booked taxi fares and booking fees 9.20 125 CHAPTER 10 – ADMINISTRATION OF THE LICENSING SYSTEM Introduction 10.1 131 Issuing licences 10.6 132 Licensing fees 10.10 133 Cooperation between licensing authorities 10.23 136 Combining licensing areas 10.28 137 Sharing information 10.33 138 Zoning within a licensing area 10.40 140 CHAPTER 11 – QUANTITY RESTRICTIONS Introduction 11.1 144 Arguments in favour of removing quantity restrictions 11.11 146 vii Paragraph Page Arguments against removing quantity restrictions 11.16 147 Evidence of the impact of derestriction 11.38 152 Uncertain gains of derestriction 11.48 154 Derestriction abroad 11.61 157 A decision to be made on the basis of local circumstances 11.65 158 Conclusions on quantity restrictions 11.69 158 Mechanisms for determining taxi numbers 11.71 159 A public interest test 11.80 160 Frequency of reviews 11.86 162 Alternative tools for improving taxi provisions 11.88 162 Plate values 11.92 163 CHAPTER 12 - ACCESSIBILITY Introduction 12.1 167 Incentives 12.2 167 Accessibility standards 12.7 168 Accessibility training 12.8 168 A requirement to display complaints information 12.20 170 Local accessibility needs review 12.26 171 A new obligation to stop 12.30 172 Equality Act 2010 12.39 174 Accessible vehicles 12.45 175 Increasing the availability of accessible vehicles 12.59 177 viii Paragraph Page CHAPTER 13 – ENFORCEMENT Introduction 13.1 180 A new power to stop licensed vehicles 13.4 180 Touting 13.16 183 Powers to impound vehicles 13.41 190 Fixed penalty schemes 13.60 193 Immediate suspension 13.72 195 Cross-border enforcement powers 13.75 196 Cross-border enforcement procedures 13.85 198 CHAPTER 14 – HEARINGS AND APPEALS Introduction 14.1 201 Who can appeal 14.5 201 A duty of the licensing authority to reconsider 14.11 203 Appeal to the magistrates’ court 14.29 206 Onward appeals 14.42 209 Appeals against a denial of an opt-in vehicle licence 14.47 210 Judicial review 14.50 211 APPENDIX A – DRAFT TAXIS AND PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLES BILL 213 APPENDIX B – LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS 267 APPENDIX C – ADVISORY GROUP AND EXPERT LEGAL PANEL MEMBERS 278 ix THE LAW COMMISSION TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE SERVICES To the Right Honourable Chris Grayling, MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION THE RATIONALE FOR REGULATING TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE SERVICES 1.1 Taxi and private hire services are an essential aspect of the transport network in England and Wales. They are essential for many passengers with disabilities and residents of rural communities, and play an important social role in enhancing the public transport system and facilitating social inclusion. The taxi and private hire sectors are also an important part of the British economy. In 2012, UK households spent about £2.7 billion on taxi and private hire journeys.1 London’s taxis are consistently ranked as the best in the world and have become an international benchmark in excellence.2 1.2 As at the end of March 2013, there were approximately 78,000 taxis and 153,000 private hire vehicles in England and Wales, and nearly 300,000 licensed taxi and private vehicle drivers.3 An estimated 138,000 people used taxis or minicabs in 2011 to travel to work,4 with much higher usage evident outside London. 1.3 Notwithstanding the growth and evolution of the taxi industry since the first regulation of hackney carriages in the 1600s, the main legal framework governing taxi services has not undergone any significant reform for nearly 200 years. Private hire services legislation is more recent, dating from 1976 in most of England and Wales and 1998 in London. Nevertheless, even this comparatively modern legislation struggles to keep up with the radical changes which the internet has introduced in the way customers book private hire services. Although 1 We estimate that £2.72 billion was spent by UK households on taxi journeys in 2012 based on ONS estimates of household expenditure on transport services of £7.78 billion for the same period. The £7.78 billion covers transport by bus, coach, taxi and hire car with driver). See http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/datasets-and-tables/data- selector.html?cdid=ADWI&dataset=ct&table-id=07.CN (last visited 19 May 2014). The ONS no longer segregates the data relating to expenditure on taxi fares. Our estimate relating to the share of expenditure relating to taxi fares is consistent with the ONS 2010 estimate of £2.585 billion in UK household expenditure on taxi fares.