Today we publish an interim statement of our conclusions on the key issues raised in the consultation paper, together with the responses we received.

One conclusion that will be of particular interest to many readers of TDO is that we have changed our minds on quantity restrictions. We will be recommending that licensing authorities should continue to have the right to limit numbers of taxis (hackneys).

The responses we are publishing include redacted versions of responses sent directly, and statistics from surveys and petitions carried out by other individuals and organisations. Overall we received over 3000 responses. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to the consultation.

The interim statement indicates the policy decisions we have reached so far on key issues. This is not the final report or draft Bill – these will not be completed until the end of this year. It is also not a further consultation – it is purely for your information and we are not inviting responses to it. It is intended solely to give interested groups and individuals an indication of our position on the main questions which have raised concern. It is not our usual practice to produce such a document – it has been done in recognition of the fact that a longer waiting period would increase anxiety amongst our stakeholders.

It should be stressed that we will continue working on developing policy alongside Parliamentary counsel (who will be drafting our Bill in accordance with our policy decisions) until the end of this year. It is important to be aware that our final recommendations might differ as a result of that process from those set out in the interim statement.

The interim statement and consultation responses can be viewed on our website at http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/are ... rvices.htm.

One conclusion that will be of particular interest to many readers of TDO is that we have changed our minds on quantity restrictions. We will be recommending that licensing authorities should continue to have the right to limit numbers of taxis (hackneys).

Well you don't need to worry about anything else then.

The Taxi Trade in restricted areas are concerned with one thing, and you have just granted them their wish.

Many from those areas will be very happy tonight.

But from my view you are a bunch of gutless *****.

Poor little Sussex did you not get what you want ? Im as interested in your view as ......... not.Gutless ? from the man who gets a plate for free to sell straight away W anke r

It would remain the case that taxis would only be allowed to pick up passengers in their own area (unless they had a pre-booking). However, we will recommend freeing up cross-border working for private hire services. Operators would no longer
be limited to using drivers and vehicles from their own area; nor would they be restricted to only inviting or accepting bookings within that same licensing area. Under no circumstances would a private hire vehicle be allowed to pick up a
passenger without a pre-booking with a valid operator.

What I want is irrelevant, but debate the issues please not the person. You may think this is all one big game, but many don't.

I gave an opinion based on what I think the LC are, you clearly disagree.

I think the LC have also bottled it in respect of the Wedding and Funeral car issue.

Why should brides and dead people's family not be afforded the same safety requirements as pi** heads on a Saturday night?

It seems a small victory when faced with this

Maybe - but maybe they looked at a place like Manchester where it takes 5 months to get a PH license - then figured if the rules are the same for PH across the country then folks wouldn't need to travel around looking for easier alternatives?

I wonder if they will attempt to put into law what the Judge in Berwick recommended - the ability to refuse a HC license if the vehicle is to be worked remotely from the district?

Oh well at least now it won't take a few months before they can flood the streets of Manchester with the ph vehicles, it seems to me that the taxis will be swamped out of existence but not to worry because it's only private hire after all. From an operator point of view there are no limits, operators can now reduce costs to drivers and 'employ' 10 times the drivers they do now, it makes life a whole lot easier for operators.