Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022

This briefing outlines what the Act covers and how it will impact local government.

04 Aug 2022

This briefing covers:

Background to the Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022 – “the Act”
The Act’s main provisions: New duties for councils
Practical steps councils can take to get ready for the Act
Role of the LGA in influencing the Act
Resources

Background to the Act

The Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act was introduced in Parliament in June 2021 by Peter Gibson MP (Conservative, Darlington) as a Private Members’ Bill. The Bill had the support of, and was drafted by, the Department for Transport (DfT). The Bill completed its passage through Parliament and gained Royal Assent on 31 March 2022.

The Act introduced several changes to the regulation of taxis and private hire vehicles licensing.

Improving intelligence sharing

The main purpose of the Act is to improve intelligence sharing by requiring licensing authorities to record information regarding drivers’ adverse licensing histories (refusals, suspensions or revocations of licences) on a central database.

This builds on the LGA’s work to tackle the issue of individuals who have had their licences revoked or refused by a licensing authority, for example for serious safeguarding or driving offenses, applying for a licence with another licensing authority. In 2018, the LGA funded the development of the National Register of Licence Revocations and Refusals (NR3), which is which is hosted by the National Anti-Fraud Network (NAFN). The simple objective of NR3 is to provide a mechanism for licensing authorities to record details of where a taxi or PHV drivers’ licence/application for one has previously been refused or revoked. This allows licensing authorities to check new applicants against the register and make an informed decision on whether an applicant is fit and proper, the criteria an applicant must meet in order to be granted a licence.

The Department for Transport’s statutory standards, published in July 2020, strongly recommended that licensing authorities use NR3 to record information on cases where they have refused or revoked licences. This Act builds on this guidance by mandating the use of a ‘licensing information database.’ It is expected that the database that will be used for the purpose of the Act will be the NR3.

Out of area working

The Act also aims to tackle issues associated with out-of-area drivers by making it mandatory for licensing authorities to report concerns about out-of-area drivers to the council which issued their licence. This is in response to the proliferation of taxis and private hire vehicles working out of area and across licensing authority borders. We have consistently raised this issue with Government, as it has undermined councils’ ability to safeguard their local community because they are unable to take enforcement action against taxi drivers licensed by other authorities, even if they are operating in their areas.

The Act’s provisions: the new duties on licensing authorities and commencement schedule

The Act introduces several new duties on licensing authorities, which fall into two main areas:

1) The duty to report concerns about out-of-area drivers: From 31 May 2022, if any licensing authority in England has information about a taxi or PHV driver licensed by another authority, that is relevant to safeguarding or road safety concerns, it must share that information with the authority that issued that driver’s licence.

Licensing authorities who receive concerns about drivers they have licensed must, within 20 working days of receiving the concerns, inform, in writing, the licensing authority that reported the concerns whether they have suspended or revoked the driver’s licence (or intend to suspend or revoke the licence). They must also provide reasons for the action they have taken or intend to take.
The Government has published statutory guidance to support licensing authorities to carry out this duty, which provides further information. Councils must have regard to this guidance.

2) The duty to record licensing decisions in a central database: The Act will require licensing authorities in England to input, into a central database, instances where the authority has refused, suspended, chosen not to renew or revoked a taxi or PHV driver’s licence based wholly, or in part, on information relating to the driver concerning safeguarding or road safety.

Licensing authorities must keep the entry in the database up-to-date, including recording the outcome of any appeals to the decision up to 11 years after the entry is first made.
Before a licensing authority in England decides whether to grant or renew a driver licence, it must search the database for any entry relating to the applicant.
If there is a relevant entry on an individual who has applied for a licence, the authority must contact the recording authority to request the relevant information. The decision-making licensing authority must then have regard to the information provided when making their decision.
The requirement that licensing authorities use the database will commence following regulations made by the Secretary of State for Transport. DfT will publish relevant guidance on this aspect of the Act in due course, which will be made available to licensing authorities.

The database

The Act will require licensing authorities to record decisions in a ‘licensing information database.’ This database will be operated by a person designated by the Secretary of State or by, or on behalf of the Secretary of State. Following our calls for the NR3 to be the designated database, we expect that the Secretary of State will designate the National Register of Licence Revocations and Refusals (NR3) to be used for the purpose of the Act.

We understand that further details on the designated database will be shared in the Autumn.

Practical steps councils can take to get ready for the Act

The duty for licensing authorities to report safeguarding or road safety concerns about drivers licensed in other areas came into force on 31 May 2022.

1) The statutory guidance relating to this duty was published on 23 May 2022, and aims to help taxis and PHV licensing authorities comply with the Act. Licensing authorities in England must have regard to this guidance.

The requirement for licensing authorities to use a central database to record licence revocations, suspensions and refusals and search for information before making a licensing decision, will commence following regulations made by the Secretary of State for Transport. DfT will publish relevant guidance on this aspect of the Act in due course, which will be shared with licensing authorities.

2) The LGA strongly encourages all licensing authorities to start using NR3 and show best practice ahead of this element of the Act commencing. The DfT’s statutory standards of July 2020 strongly recommended that licensing authorities use tools such as NR3 to share information, so there is an expectation that all licensing authorities should be using the database already.

Role of the LGA in influencing the Act

By originally setting up the NR3 database, the LGA made it possible for legislation mandating the requirement for licensing authorities to share relevant information on licensing decisions to be introduced through a simple Private Members’ Bill.

Throughout the Bill’s passage we engaged with Parliamentarians and the DfT to ensure the legislation would effectively deliver on its ambitions. You can read the LGA’s briefings for the Second Reading debates in the Commons and Lords on our website. Our key messages were:

The NR3 should be the designated database for information sharing for the purpose of the Act;
If the NR3 is the designated database, responsibility for setting fees should continue to rest with National Anti-Fraud Network, who host the NR3 and understand the costs of running it, rather than the Secretary of State;
The Act should be the first step toward achieving comprehensive reform of the outdated legislation governing taxi and PHV licensing. DfT should bring forward a Taxi and PHV Licensing Reform Bill to replace current outdated legislation, covering the full range of safeguarding, market and enforcement issues that need addressing, to the benefit of both passengers and the trade.

Parliamentarians did not propose any amendments to the Bill and the final legislation passed without any changes. However, throughout the course of the Bill several Parliamentarians highlighted the LGA’s and councils’ views on the Bill and wider concerns around taxi and PHV licensing:

Second Reading, House of Commons: Peter Gibson MP (Darlington, Conservative), who sponsored the Bill, remarked, ‘I am reliably informed by the Local Government Association that, with little or no additional costs, the NR3 database could fulfil the Bill’s requirements if the Secretary of State so designates.’
Second Reading, House of Commons: Dr James Davies MP (Vale of Clwyd, Conservative) said ‘I am aware that the Local Government Association has overseen the development of the NR3 database, which is hosted by the National Anti Fraud Network via Tameside Council, which it would presumably make sense to formalise for this purpose.
Second Reading, House of Lords: LGA Vice-President Baroness Brinton (Liberal Democrat) said that she agreed with the LGA’s proposal that the DfT put forward a comprehensive Bill to reform the taxis and PHV licensing system. In response, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Baroness Vere of Norbiton, stated that in 2019, the Government ‘committed to legislate when parliamentary time permits to set national minimum standards in licensing, introduce national enforcement powers and establish a national licensing database to include all driver, vehicle and operator licensing information. That remains our intention.’

Outcomes

We are pleased that the Government listened to our calls and is expected to mandate the use of the NR3 for the purpose of the Act, building on the LGA’s original work in establishing it. This is because the NR3 is already in place, is widely used by licensing authorities, and has been shown to be effective.

The LGA is continuing to engage with officials at the DfT and the National Anti-Fraud Network (which hosts NR3) as the Act is introduced to ensure councils have the tools and guidance that is needed to implement the legislation. Through our wider lobbying work, we are working to ensure that this Act is the first step in wider taxi and PHV reform and are continuing to call on DfT to bring forward a comprehensive Taxis and PHV Reform Bill to make the licensing system fit for the 21st Century.