Moved by
Lord Moylan
472: After Clause 214, insert the following new Clause—
“Duty to consult on the licensing of hackney carriages and private hire vehicles
(1) The Secretary of State must consult such persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate about the merits of amending Part 2 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 (hackney carriages and private hire vehicles) such that only upper-tier authorities in England, outside of Greater London and the City of Plymouth, would become permitted to grant licences to—
(a) hackney carriages,
(b) drivers of hackney carriages,
(c) private hire vehicles,
(d) drivers of private hire vehicles, or
(e) operators of private hire vehicles.
(2) In this section—
“upper-tier authority” means—
(a) a unitary authority, or
(b) a combined authority;
“unitary authority” has the meaning given in regulation 2(3) of the Local Government Changes for England Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/867);
“combined authority” means a combined authority established under section 103 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009.”
Member's explanatory statement
This new Clause would require the Secretary of State to consult within a reasonable timeframe on the proposal of the Government within its Levelling Up White Paper of February 2022 "...to explore transferring control of taxi and private hire vehicle licensing to both combined authorities and upper-tier authorities”.