Overview

The Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Bill aims to improve passenger safety and road safety by enhancing the licensing process for taxi and private hire vehicle drivers in England and Wales. It does this primarily by creating a national database of licensing decisions and improving information sharing between licensing authorities.

Description

Key Aspects:

This bill establishes a national database to record licensing decisions regarding taxi and private hire vehicle drivers. This database will include information about drivers who have been refused a license, had their license suspended or revoked, or had other relevant information on their record. The "relevant information" includes details of sexual offenses, harassment, causing harm, discrimination, threatening behaviour, and road safety risks. Licensing authorities will be required to search this database before making licensing decisions, and to share information with other authorities regarding drivers licensed elsewhere. The bill also mandates that licensing authorities must have regard to any information found in the database.

Information Sharing:

The bill facilitates information sharing between licensing authorities in England and Wales, and also with relevant authorities in Scotland and Wales. If one authority becomes aware of concerning information about a driver licensed by another authority, they are required to report it. The receiving authority must then consider the information when making decisions about the driver's license.

Database Operation:

The database will be operated either by a designated individual or by the Secretary of State. It will be accessible to relevant authorities, and information will be held for 11 years. The database operator may charge fees for access to and use of the database.

Guidance:

The Secretary of State will issue guidance to licensing authorities on how to implement the provisions of the bill.

Government Spending

The bill will likely lead to increased government spending on establishing and maintaining the national database, as well as potential costs associated with issuing guidance and overseeing compliance. Specific figures are not provided in the bill text.

Groups Affected

• Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Drivers: The bill could affect drivers' ability to obtain or retain a license, depending on their history and any relevant information held on the new database.
• Licensing Authorities: The bill places new responsibilities on licensing authorities, including data entry, searching the database, and information sharing. This requires additional administrative workload and resources.
• Passengers: The bill is intended to improve passenger safety by preventing unsuitable individuals from driving taxis and private hire vehicles.
• Police and other relevant authorities: These groups will be involved in providing information to the database and can expect increased collaboration across regions.

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