Hail, Taxis! A critical part of our public transport.

I was delighted to take part in the 2nd Reading of the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Bill.

?As with all Private Member’s legislation, the purpose of the bill is clear and straightforward.?The bill would oblige taxi and private hire vehicle licensing authorities to submit information about refusals, suspensions and revocations of driver licences to a national database. Licensing authorities would also have to check the database before making licensing decisions.

The bill is being taken through the Lords by my good friend Jamie Borwick.?He deserves such credit in this area as it was he who ensured that all London licenced taxis would be fully accessible for wheelchair users, a huge change with such positive empowering results.

The bill seeks to increase the safety of passengers in taxis and private hire vehicles by improving information-sharing between local authorities.

At present, local authorities are not required to share information about refusals, suspensions or revocations of taxi or private hire vehicle (PHV) driver licences, though?many use a voluntary database known as the National Register of Taxi and Private Hire Licence Revocations and Refusals?(NR3).

The bill would make the establishment and use of such a database a statutory requirement and would require local authorities to both contribute to and access the database when making licensing decisions.

In addition, the bill would enable the police in one local authority to report any misconduct of a taxi or PHV driver, whether or not it resulted in the driver being charged with an offence, to the authority that licensed the driver.

The bill’s supporters hope that these measures will decrease the risk of a driver with an adverse history being able to secure a licence in a different authority from the one where the wrongdoing was committed.

The bill has seven substantive clauses. Clauses 1–4 deal with the proposed mandatory database, while clauses 5–6 pertain to the proposed new duty to report concerns about drivers licensed in other areas. Clause 7 concerns guidance.

In the debate I also took the opportunity to raise with the Minister questions around disability awareness training for taxi drivers.?I also asked her?what data the Department held on the number of guide dog refusals by taxi drivers.

Similarly, I raised the question of taxi exclusions from so called shared space areas.?In 2015 I published a report setting out the serious issues with this design folly.?In London there are now areas where taxis cannot go, Bank junction and Tottenham Court Road to name just two. A Judicial Review last year found TFL had acted 'unlawfully' in excluding taxi's from their Streetspace scheme.?How is a disabled person, a wheelchair user, a blind person, supposed to access these areas??It simply makes these areas excluded for so many whereas previously they were not.

It is also completely unacceptable that certain roads in London and other areas allow buses but not taxis to access them.?Thus, a diesel bus can go along a particular road, a clean, accessible e-taxi cannot. Completely crazy, oh yes, and completely excluding.

The debate was covered by Radio 4 programme Today in Parliament. The government support the bill. The bill makes sense and is clear, it should have swift passage onto the statute book.