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HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and LTAs
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Author:  StuartW [ Thu Jan 08, 2026 2:35 pm ]
Post subject:  HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and LTAs
Well this is quite newsworthy :-o

Not sure there's anything obvious here that hasn't been flagged up umpteen times in the last few months, though, but the launch of a formal consultation process is significant nonetheless.

But I wonder why and how the LPHCA is selected to provide a quote for an official HM Government news release...

Not that the quote says very much, but, you know [-(


New proposals set out to reduce 'out-of-area' working for taxis and boost passenger safety

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new- ... ger-safety

Have your say on our proposals to simplify the taxi licensing system and improve enforcement to increase safety and reduce unfair competition.

    • proposals to reduce the practice of ‘out-of-area’ working, which sees drivers obtaining their licence in one area and operating mainly in another

    • changes would simplify how taxi and private hire vehicle drivers get their licences by putting the power in the hands of local transport authorities

    • step towards making our streets safer, especially for women and girls, helping deliver on the government’s Plan for Change

Women and girls will be better protected under government plans to reduce ‘out-of-area’ working by taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers.

Currently, 263 different bodies issue licences to drivers, including councils and Transport for London (TfL). But under the proposals set out in a new consultation launched by the Department for Transport (DfT) today (8 January 2026), this would be reduced to 70 local transport authorities (LTAs), which already manage local transport planning.

This change would simplify the licensing system, improve enforcement and tackle ‘out-of-area’ working, which happens when drivers licensed in one area operate mainly in another, creating safety risks and unfair competition.

By reducing the number of licensing authorities, the number of boundaries between areas is reduced and licensees would have fewer opportunities to seek out less stringent licensing rules. For example, currently in Greater Manchester, there are 10 licensing authorities. However, under the proposals, this would be reduced to just one licensing authority.

These proposals form part of the government’s response to Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, which highlighted the issue of ‘out-of-area’ working and recommended more rigorous statutory standards for local authority licensing and regulation of taxi drivers.

Local Transport Minister, Lilian Greenwood, said:

    Passenger safety is at the heart of everything we do. These proposals, combined with the introduction of national minimum standards, are important next steps to making taxis and private hire vehicles as safe as possible.

    By moving licensing to all local transport authorities, we’re encouraging greater consistency and stronger enforcement across the country.

A spokesperson for the Licensed Private Hire Car Association said:

    We are delighted that the government is consulting on making all local transport authorities responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing.

    Reducing the number of licensing authorities should enable licensing efficiencies and consistency of standards nationally for taxis and private hire vehicles, which in turn will improve safety for the travelling public.

This public consultation will run for 12 weeks and is available on GOV.UK.

This consultation follows proposed new standards on taxi licensing to strengthen safety and protections for passengers in taxis and private hire vehicles.

Under the new rules, the Transport Secretary would have the power to introduce national minimum standards for taxi and PHV licensing.

This would see all drivers subject to robust checks and would mean passengers can feel safe in the knowledge that their taxis and PHVs meet strict national standards, no matter where they are in the country.
Author:  StuartW [ Thu Jan 08, 2026 2:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and
This is the link to the actual consultation (and the specific questions) for those who haven't used the link above.

I daresay there are a few interesting nuggets in here for anyone who takes the time to read it. Or maybe finds an AI-based summary somewhere :lol:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultat ... e-vehicles
Author:  captain cab [ Thu Jan 08, 2026 5:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and
StuartW wrote:
This is the link to the actual consultation (and the specific questions) for those who haven't used the link above.

I daresay there are a few interesting nuggets in here for anyone who takes the time to read it. Or maybe finds an AI-based summary somewhere :lol:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultat ... e-vehicles


:lol:
Author:  captain cab [ Thu Jan 08, 2026 6:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and
It doesn't read like a consultation, its more of a statement of intent eusasmiles.zip
Author:  Sussex [ Thu Jan 08, 2026 7:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and
captain cab wrote:
It doesn't read like a consultation, its more of a statement of intent eusasmiles.zip

I briefly skimmed it, but it does indeed look like the decision has already been made, as they aren't really offering an alternative.

I've also struggled to see what powers the new bodies will have in respect of cross-border working.

Maybe the DfT is saying if you have fewer councils, then there will be less cross-border working because those previuous cross bordering will now be licensed in the same area.

Which might be a statement of fact, but it still doesn't stop the Wolverhampton abuse.
Author:  Sussex [ Thu Jan 08, 2026 7:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and
However, I would recommend that as many people as possible complete the online survey.

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/x-P0JBZF/
Author:  captain cab [ Thu Jan 08, 2026 8:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and
Sussex wrote:
captain cab wrote:
It doesn't read like a consultation, its more of a statement of intent eusasmiles.zip

I briefly skimmed it, but it does indeed look like the decision has already been made, as they aren't really offering an alternative.

I've also struggled to see what powers the new bodies will have in respect of cross-border working.

Maybe the DfT is saying if you have fewer councils, then there will be less cross-border working because those previuous cross bordering will now be licensed in the same area.

Which might be a statement of fact, but it still doesn't stop the Wolverhampton abuse.


if you have one nationwide licensing authority, that stops cross border as well
Author:  captain cab [ Thu Jan 08, 2026 9:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and
this really needs a sticky :shock:
Author:  Sussex [ Fri Jan 09, 2026 6:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and
Quote:
I've also struggled to see what powers the new bodies will have in respect of cross-border working.

It would appear Andy Burnham agrees with me.

The government has plans for Wolverhampton taxis, but Andy Burnham says 'not good enough'

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk ... y-33194435

Taxis working out-of-area will be ‘reduced’ under new government plans — but Andy Burnham says that’s ‘not good enough’.

The mayor launched a campaign to ban cabbies working outside their licensed area last year because nearly half of Greater Manchester’s private hire drivers are registered away from the region. Many are licensed by Wolverhampton council, responsible for more than one-in-10 British minicabs.

The government announced on Thursday morning (January 8) it aims to ‘reduce’ out-of-area working by cutting the number of licensing authorities. However, it appears the government has stopped short of proposing an outright ban or limits on cabbies plying their trade away from where they’re licensed.

That means the ‘Wolverhampton problem’ could persist, and the mayor says that’s ‘not good enough’.

“We were saying end out of area working, not reduce. I do not think we should have plates on taxis from 75 miles away,” Mr Burnham told BBC Radio Manchester when news broke on-air.

“We are beginning to look more at a Greater Manchester system to manage this. We want to be in charge of our own standards.

“It would not be good enough if it’s just ‘reduce’. If ‘reduce’ means ‘practically end’, that’s what we want.”

Later in the day, Mr Burnham thanked transport secretary Heidi Alexander ‘for listening’ at a press conference. He added: “We’ve been heard, that’s the first thing I would say. But I’m not then going to say ‘this is perfect’.

“It sounds like a significant move to what we want, but I won’t be able to say job done unless I can look any resident of Greater Manchester in the eye and say ‘we can vouch directly for the standards of safety in relation to both driver and vehicle'.”

Specifically, the government plans to make local transport authorities responsible for taxis, so Transport for Greater Manchester would issue and enforce licences, not the city’s 10 councils.

By doing so, the number of bodies permitting taxis would fall from 263 to 70. The government argues having fewer authorities means drivers will cross fewer boundaries, ‘reducing’ out-of-area working.

The government plans also include a drive to raise safety levels with new ‘minimum standards’, Bolton-born local transport minister Lillian Greenwood said: “Passenger safety is at the heart of everything we do.

“These proposals, combined with the introduction of national minimum standards, are important next steps to making taxis and private hire vehicles as safe as possible. By moving licensing to all local transport authorities, we’re encouraging greater consistency and stronger enforcement across the country.”
Author:  StuartW [ Sat Jan 10, 2026 3:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and
HMG consultation wrote:
Significant numbers of drivers working ‘out-of-area’, licensing with a different authority to the one in which they predominantly work, cause challenges in regulating the sector. A significant reduction in the number of licensing authorities is likely to considerably reduce the amount of out-of-area working, diminishing the challenges it presents to licensing authorities.

As well as better, more integrated transport planning, making LTAs responsible for licensing would create a situation where more vehicles and their drivers are operating more of the time in the area in which they are licensed, leading to a reduction in out-of-area working.

As things stand, and if it's considered that Wolverhampton cars are the biggest issue with regard to cross-border working, then I fail to see how the LTA thing would change things in the slightest. If it's currently advantageous for ops all over Greater Manc to use Wolverhampton for badging and plating purposes as things stand, how would a single Greater Manc authority change that?

Of course, if standards became more uniform nationally then that might certainly make Wolverhampton look less attractive, but that's not about the LTA thing per se. Any effect in that regard could be achieved without LTAs being made responsible for licensing :?
Author:  captain cab [ Mon Jan 12, 2026 9:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and
StuartW wrote:
HMG consultation wrote:
Significant numbers of drivers working ‘out-of-area’, licensing with a different authority to the one in which they predominantly work, cause challenges in regulating the sector. A significant reduction in the number of licensing authorities is likely to considerably reduce the amount of out-of-area working, diminishing the challenges it presents to licensing authorities.

As well as better, more integrated transport planning, making LTAs responsible for licensing would create a situation where more vehicles and their drivers are operating more of the time in the area in which they are licensed, leading to a reduction in out-of-area working.

As things stand, and if it's considered that Wolverhampton cars are the biggest issue with regard to cross-border working, then I fail to see how the LTA thing would change things in the slightest. If it's currently advantageous for ops all over Greater Manc to use Wolverhampton for badging and plating purposes as things stand, how would a single Greater Manc authority change that?

Of course, if standards became more uniform nationally then that might certainly make Wolverhampton look less attractive, but that's not about the LTA thing per se. Any effect in that regard could be achieved without LTAs being made responsible for licensing :?


=D>
Author:  captain cab [ Wed Apr 01, 2026 9:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and
basically the response of the NTA

Consultation Response – Taxi & PHV Licensing

Overview

This consultation is such a circus it should really be delivered by a clown on a unicycle, juggling the shredded remains of local democracy. The DfT has produced something so directionless it feels like they wrote it during a séance, desperately trying to contact the spirit of someone who actually understands taxi licensing.

1. A Consultation Aimed at Stakeholders Who Don’t Have the Required Information

The government is asking taxi drivers to estimate the financial implications of transferring licensing powers to LTAs. That’s like asking a goldfish to explain quantum mechanics.
Drivers don’t have the data. Operators don’t have the data. The only people who do have the data are local authorities — the same local authorities who’ve spent years pretending they don’t know where their own enforcement officers are, never mind their budgets.

This isn’t a consultation. It’s a box‑ticking exercise where the DfT pretends to listen while quietly stapling the policy to a carrier pigeon and hoping it flies into a turbine.

2. Cross‑Border Hiring: Mentioned, Ignored, and Immediately Forgotten

The consultation brings up cross‑border hiring - briefly, vaguely, and with absolutely no intention of doing anything about it.

• No proposals.
• No enforcement plan.
• No explanation of how LTAs would magically fix a problem councils have ignored for a decade.

And even if LTAs take over, there will still be borders, everywhere has a border.

Unless the DfT plans to flatten the country like a badly ironed bedsheet, cross‑border hiring will still exist. The only difference is that now it’ll be ignored by a bigger organisation.

3. Motives: Somewhere Between Cynical and Downright Paranoid

Across the trade, there’s a deep suspicion that the DfT’s motives are about as wholesome as a fox in a chicken coop wearing a bib.
This consultation doesn’t prioritise safety. It doesn’t prioritise service quality. It doesn’t even prioritise basic logic. It prioritises administrative restructuring, which is government‑speak for “we’re bored and want to move the furniture around.”

It feels less like a policy proposal and more like a cry for help from someone who’s been trapped in a meeting room since 2018.

4. Contradictions: The DfT’s New Olympic Sport
The consultation proudly announces that taxi licensing is self‑funding — then immediately complains that zoning creates extra cost.
How?
For who?
The Tooth Fairy?
If licensing is self‑funding, the only people paying for zoning are the licence holders — the same people the DfT is pretending to “consult.” It’s like being mugged and then asked to fill out a customer satisfaction survey.

5. Costs and Savings: The Crystal Ball Section

The DfT wants the trade to predict the costs and savings of a licensing system that doesn’t exist yet. That’s not consultation — that’s astrology with paperwork.

Will the LTA require wheelchair accessible vehicles everywhere?

Will fares be urban, rural, or decided by a man throwing darts at a map?

Will drivers quit?

Will anyone survive the meeting where this policy is written?

Nobody knows. Nobody can know. The DfT is basically asking the trade to guess the ending of a film that hasn’t been written, cast, or funded.

6. The DfT’s Bizarrely Wholesome View of PHV Operators

The DfT seems to think PHV operators are all kindly pensioners running dispatch from their conservatory between knitting sessions.

Meanwhile, in the real world:

• Big operators are swallowing small ones like a corporate game
• Drivers are charged for equipment, for jobs, for breathing too loudly
• “Local” brands are often just national companies wearing a cheap disguise

And then there’s the line about operators “drawing from the pool of drivers.”

What pool?
They’re not koi carp.
They’re human beings trying to earn a living without being rinsed by rental fees that would make a loan shark blush.

Conclusion

This consultation is so poorly framed it should come with a warning label. It asks the trade for data it doesn’t have, dodges the biggest issues, and reads like it was drafted by someone who once saw a taxi from a distance and thought, “I understand this industry.”

Until the DfT provides:

• A clear and evidence‑based rationale
• Actual proposals
• A plan for cross‑border enforcement
• Real analysis instead of vibes

…the trade cannot meaningfully respond.

Right now, the whole thing feels like the DfT is trying to assemble IKEA furniture without instructions, tools, or the faintest idea what they’re building — but they’re very confident it’ll be your fault when it collapses.
Author:  Sussex [ Wed Apr 01, 2026 10:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and
So basically you’re on the fence.

:lol:
Author:  StuartW [ Thu Apr 02, 2026 4:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and
:D You're supposed to post those things before midday, Captain Cab :-o

On the other hand, if you had posted it in the morning, I'd have assumed the obvious before even reading it, particularly because you don't post often on here 8-[

But by the time I'd read it in the early hours of the next day, I'd totally forgotten, and you had me fooled for a few minutes #-o

I think...
Author:  captain cab [ Thu Apr 02, 2026 6:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: HMG launches consultation on x-bordering, standards and
Sussex wrote:
So basically you’re on the fence.

:lol:


:lol:
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