‘Outdated’ national taxi rules are bringing down local standards.

‘Outdated’ national taxi rules are bringing down local standards, York councillors claim in call for change

Councillors in York have called on the Government to look at changes to laws governing taxi and private hire vehicles, claiming the rules are “outdated”.

Licensing committee members Rachel Melly and Keith Orrell have written to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on behalf of City of York Council seeking national reform of taxi and private hire licensing law.

Cllr Melly said the law was outdated, even though the current Deregulation Act only dates from 2015. She said it was creating incentives for York-based operators to get licensed in other areas with lower standards.

Referring to the ongoing issue of Uber drivers licensed in Leeds operating in York, she said: “Operators licensed elsewhere in the region and who have drivers operating for significant periods in York is one problem, and York-based operators who are circumventing York’s rigorous safeguarding and knowledge test by getting licensed in Wolverhampton is another.”

“In both cases we have drivers operating in York either to lower standards or without sufficient knowledge of our city to offer a proper service.”

She continued: “The whole purpose of taxi licensing is to ensure the public’s safety, yet in both cases public safety is being compromised by perverse incentives within the current regulatory regime. The law is outdated and ambiguous.”

She added: “At the moment enforcement action is difficult and many of the reported incidents we are seeing in York are unfairly tarnishing the vast majority of properly trained and licensed Yorkbased drivers.”