National taxi and private hire standards have moved a step closer after new legislation received Royal Assent.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will introduce new measures to expand devolution and empower mayors and local people, as well as introducing new national standards for taxi and private hire drivers. This will allow enforcement officers to suspend licences issued by other local authorities where a driver is operating outside their licensed area.
Addressing differences
Clamping down on out-of-area taxi work was a key issue set out in the King’s Speech last month.
Outlining the plans in the draft Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Bill, King Charles said: “Without a closer match between where licences are issued and where journeys take place, enforcement activity and resources remain misaligned, limiting effectiveness and undermining public confidence.”
The King added that the changes would address differences between authorities “including in decision-making, fees, conditions, and enforcement activity.
“While national standards are expected to improve baseline consistency and reduce incentives for drivers and operators to license away from where they intend to work, taken alone they are unlikely to resolve the full problem.”
‘Taxi capital’
City of Wolverhampton Council, which has become the largest licensing authority in England and has been dubbed the ‘taxi capital’, told the BBC it “wholeheartedly” supported any government plans for reform.
In November last year, figures showed the council had licensed 33,893 private-hire vehicles in 2025, compared to 10,768 in 2020.
Despite the huge increase in the number of drivers licenced by the authority, the BBC reports that up to 96% of taxi driver licences issued in Wolverhampton between April, 2023, and March, 2024, were for people living outside of the city.
The Deregulation Act 2015 made it possible for drivers to work out-of-area and they are free to apply to any licensing authority in the country. Drivers and their vehicles still undergo inspections and must have the correct taxi insurance in place.
But Wolverhampton’s fees and speed of processing applications have made it the most popular with drivers, although several councils have raised concerns.
Change is welcome
Responding to the King’s speech, Wolverhampton said safeguarding was its “number one priority” and supported the government’s plans for reform.
It told the BBC: “We gave evidence to the government’s Transport Select Committee, stating that the law needs urgent reform and have called for the introduction of uniform standards, uniform fees and improved cross-border enforcement powers.
“We do not gain financially from taxi licensing, as the fees are legally ring-fenced for spend only on related activities.”
A spokesman added that it is illegal for any authority to refuse taxi applicants on the basis of where they live. It was also against the law to impost a time limit on the number of private-hire licences issued.
As part of the planned reforms, the draft Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Bill will give regulators stronger enforcement powers and introduce a national database of all licensed taxis and hire vehicles.
The planned reforms will help modernise taxi and private-hire regulations which are often described as “patchwork” and “outdated”. It will hopefully introduce a system which passengers and drivers can trust, with regulators having stronger enforcement powers and access to a national database of all licensed vehicles, drivers and PHV operators, and deliver more accessible services for disabled passengers.
The ultimate goal is providing a consistent, safe and reliable service wherever people travel, with passengers and drivers knowing what to do if things go wrong.
