Taxi Driver Online

The Law Commission is set to reform a range of areas relevant to public bodies as part of its Eleventh Programme of Law Reform. One of the key projects for reform will be to review Taxis and Private Hire Regulations. The project will examine the legal framework relating to taxis and PHVs with a view to making it simpler and more modern.

The Law Commission have advised that this project engages economic and regulatory theory. It will be fundamentally deregulatory, in the sense that it will seek to question the necessity for the various strands of the current regulatory regime, and seek to reformulate those that are necessary in the light of modern understandings of the most efficient and efficacious forms of regulation.

Taxi-cabs (“hackney carriages”) are a highly regulated market, and have been since Victorian times (or earlier – some controls were first imposed under the Stuarts). Private hire vehicles have been regulated since the 1970s. There are distinct legal systems for London, Plymouth and the rest of England and Wales; and different systems for taxi-cabs and private hire vehicles. Outside London, local authorities are the licensing authorities for both taxi-cabs and private hire vehicles. In London, licensing is now the responsibility of Transport for London.

Licensing authorities regulate the quantity of taxi-cabs and the fares they can charge, and, for both taxi-cabs and private hire vehicles, the quality of services, including the safety of vehicles and the fitness of drivers. Drivers and vehicles must be licensed, and, in respect of private hire vehicles, there must also be a licensed operator.

The Law Commission have detailed that the first level of reform would be to reduce the sheer bulk, complexity and inconsistency of the regulatory systems. Central concepts like “plying for hire” have caused considerable problems in the past. They have pointed out that there are pointless geographical inconsistencies on such matters as whether a taxi-cab driver needs a separate private hire licence, and whether the vehicle can be used for leisure purposes by its owner/driver. Secondly, there is a need to modernise to reflect technological change – private hire licensing, for instance, is posited on a geographically fixed operator with premises where bookings are made. Finally, the fundamental features of the regulatory system are in need of reconsideration – the separate systems for taxi-cabs and private hire vehicles, the identity of the licensing authorities, the number and nature of licenses and whether all forms of regulation are still necessary.

Lord Justice Munby, Chairman of the Law Commission said “Our Eleventh Programme brings together a diverse range of law reform projects, each of which is important and highly relevant to our lives today. We are grateful to all those who responded to our consultation for their suggestions, and proud of the programme they have enabled us to build. The Law Commission exists solely to review the law and recommend reforms to make it fair, modern, accessible and cost-effective. Each area of law we will examine in the Eleventh Programme has been identified as being flawed and at risk of creating confusion and injustice. Each demands review and reform.”

The Law Commission’s project engages economic and regulatory theory. It will be fundamentally deregulatory, in the sense that it will seek to question the necessity for the various strands of the current regulatory regime, and seek to reformulate those that are necessary in the light of modern understandings of the most efficient and efficacious forms of regulation.

The Commission have stated that the taxi and private hire vehicle market had an annual turnover of above £2.2 billion in 2003. Therefore it is likely that a modernised and simplified system of licensing will reduce the costs of the licensing system to both local authorities and market participants themselves. However, the realisation of these potential savings would depend on decisions to be taken on the key regulation reform issues which will constitute the substance of the project.

The Law Commission expect the project to take three years, with proposals for reform being published in April 2012, which will be followed by a three month consultation period where the Commission will invite the public to respond to their proposals. The aim will be to publish a final report with their recommendations and draft bill by late 2013.

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