Sarah Champion MP gives evidence to Parliamentary Committee on taxi driver licencing

Sarah Champion, Member of Parliament for Rotherham, has given evidence to the Transport Select Committee on taxi driver licencing, having campaigned on the area for a number of years.

Failures in the licencing regimes of taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs), were recognised as a significant contributing factor to the child sexual exploitation that occurred in Rotherham, identified by the Jay (2014) and Casey (2015) Reports.

In response, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) introduced some of the most stringent licencing regimes in the country.  These measures included far greater powers to determine if an applicant is a fit and proper person to hold a licence, as well as safety measures such as mandatory CCTV in vehicles.

In her evidence to the Committee, Champion urged the UK to learn from Rotherham’s success story. She also warned that progress was at risk, as a result of the Deregulation Act (2015), which meant drivers licenced by external authorities could operate across borders. As a result, there is very little to stop a driver or an operator applying to an external authority with lower standards and still operating in the Borough.

Commenting Champion said:

“I am proud that Rotherham is leading the way in taxi licensing standards by implementing some of the most stringent measures in the country. However, I am deeply concerned that unscrupulous drivers from other areas can practice in my constituency without the same level of scrutiny.

This fundamentally undermines efforts of the RMBC to ensure stringent licensing is in place and is unfair to the Rotherham drivers who work hard to lead by example.

The UK must learn from Rotherham’s model by establishing much more stringent minimum standards, as well as requiring drivers to be licensed in the area in which they routinely operate.”

ENDS.

Notes to editors:

[1] You can read about the inquiry here: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/9260/licensing-of-taxis-and-private-hire-vehicles/

[2] You can read the evidence, here: https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/145985/pdf/