Why it’s time to overhaul the law on taxis

I met with the minister responsible for taxis, Simon Lightwood MP, to express my concerns about illegal and unlicensed private hire vehicles operating in Blackpool.

Since the deregulation of the taxi industry in 2015, private hire drivers have been able to operate anywhere in England and Wales with a local authority licence.

The Deregulation Act permits private hire vehicle operators to subcontract bookings across different licensing areas. This has an adverse impact on both local taxi firms and public safety standards.

While out of town firms are able to apply for a license to operate in Blackpool, I am concerned about the standards of some private hire operators in the town who may be contravening rules.

I called on the government to overhaul the law on controversial cross-border hiring. Private hire vehicles should be licensed in the area where a journey starts or finishes to accept a booking.

The minister was supportive and understood the particular challenges local cabbies face in Blackpool, where work is already precarious and inconsistent due to the town’s seasonality. His department is already looking into updating the taxi laws and to clamp down on illegal and uninsured drivers.