My Lords, Amendment 472 stands in my name. On another occasion, I am sure that this amendment would attract a wide-ranging debate, but I will understand if there are few speakers this evening and I will be satisfied with a short answer from my noble friend, as I intend to explain. This amendment is to probe where His Majesty’s Government are on a proposal in the levelling up White Paper that the licensing of private hire vehicles and taxis be carried out by upper-tier or combined authorities, rather than by district authorities as now.
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The need for some sort of consolidation of legislation is apparent when one realises that in England these arrangements are governed in the main by Part 2 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976—except, of course, in Plymouth, where they are governed by the Plymouth City Council Act 1975, and in London, where taxi regulation relies on, among other statutes, the Metropolitan Public Carriage Act 1869 and the London Cab Order 1934 made under it. Quite separately in the capital are the minicab private hire vehicles, where drivers and operators are subject to the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998.
The licensing of taxis and private hire vehicles by lower-tier authorities means that there are currently 276 licensing authorities in the country. This has the effect of restricting the field of operation of taxis and private hire. The proposal in this amendment would
reduce that to a mere 80—not quite nirvana, but still a considerable improvement. Drawing on my experience as a former deputy chairman of Transport for London, there is a lot to be said for having a single licensing authority covering a wide population in a contiguous area when it comes to contributing to the vitality and vibrancy of the private hire and taxi sector.
The advantage would be to make it less burdensome for private hire drivers. This is a mode of transport, we should remember, that the Department for Transport recognises as an essential feature of our transport system, with particular benefits to the less mobile and to the vulnerable, including, of course, women in the hours of darkness. The Government have not committed to making the changes they floated in the levelling up White Paper, but that was all of a year ago. What they did say was that they were going to listen to people and might undertake a consultation. But since then, nothing has happened.
The simple purpose of this amendment, apart from making the case for change, is to ask my noble friend whether she can say when the Government are going to initiate discussions and conversations, and indeed a consultation, on this proposal so that we can all find out better if it has the merits that it appears to have on the face of it. I beg to move.