Norman Baker MP

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Transport

Great Minister House

76 Marsham Street

London SW1P 4DR

Date: 5^th July 2013 

Dear Norman,

I am writing to you regarding the Law Commission’s recommendations on Taxis and Private Hire Services (PHS).  I was recently lobbied by taxi drivers from my constituency who do accept there is a need for some reform. However, they assert that the Law Commission’s proposals are disproportionate and that the level of deregulation being recommended could potentially cause serious damage to the industry.

I understand that the Law Commission wants to enhance public safety and protection by virtue of a simplified system of regulation. However, if local authorities no longer license taxis and private hire vehicles this could confuse customers needing to visually identify licensed vehicles. Taxis and PHS could also merge making PHS available for ply-for-hire at times, which also would make recognising licensed taxis more difficult.

The Law Commission’s recommendation not to limit the control of taxis across the UK could lead, according to some estimates, to a quadrupling in hackney fleet numbers. One knock on effect would be a severe reduction in income for drivers, in turn creating costs for the Treasury by way of additional tax benefits and housing benefit, for example.  

Furthermore, allowing private hire vehicles to work anywhere in the UK could potentially cause further harm to local businesses, forcing them to compete with vehicles outside their local area and giving significant advantage to larger PHS. There is a real risk that this could create a monopoly and put local tax firms out of business, with a small number of operators controlling large amounts of PHVs throughout the country.

I look forward to your comments on this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas MP, Brighton Pavilion

You can read the Minister's response here.