Speeches by Greenwood.

“One thing that is quite interesting if local authorities want to take action to discourage out-of-area licensing is to look at what their own requirements are. We had quite an interesting example in Oldham. It was concerned about the number of its drivers who were licensing out-of-area. It looked at its own requirement…”

“It is about what the necessary standards are. What is the licensing authority there to do? Clearly, it is about ensuring that the public are safe, have a quality of service, and are not going to face discrimination. To give you one example: there is one local authority that requires that PHV drivers wear shirt and trou…”

“That is really interesting because obviously my experience of using taxis and PHVs is that a lot of them are modern hybrid vehicles. Actually, on certain apps, when you get your choice of vehicle you get the option to take an electric vehicle rather than not, and it might come at a bit of a price point. The public are …”

“The other thing to say, of course, is that the more requirements we put in, the more cost we put into the system. That has consequences, does it not? We know that a lot of people rely on taxis and private hire vehicles, particularly people who perhaps cannot afford a car of their own, or disabled people who would not b…”

“The power that is set out in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill would give us the ability to put requirements on that. I would be interested in the Committee’s view. Obviously, there is a big incentive for local authorities to process licence applications in a timely fashion, particularly if you want…”

“Yes, and I wondered if that is why some local authorities were putting in a requirement around vehicle age. Where there seems to be a slightly odd way of applying it is that some local authorities seem to have an age for first licensing that does not apply when renewing your licence. Theoretically, and Liz can correct …”

“I do not think so. We are quite open to looking at the views that people want to put forward.”

“Yes, that is appropriate. I cannot remember if it is our statutory guidance or best practice guidance but we have already set out that people should have a certain level of English. It is important for communicating with passengers and for understanding safety information. I know local authorities have different ways t…”

“I absolutely agree that emissions are a big issue, particularly in our towns and cities. It is perhaps less of an issue for a taxi and PHV operating in a much more rural area. There is an argument for saying that if you are a licensing authority primarily looking after a city or urban area, that it is reasonable to inc…”

“Alongside the combined authority area.”

“That is not something that I have had a discussion about.”

“There would be a very strong incentive for your taxi to comply with the ULEZ regulations.”

“As we have heard, some people are licensing with authorities away from where they intend to work because they can get licensed more quickly and cheaply and start earning money to support their family. By making all local transport authorities responsible for licensing and having national minimum standards, it will redu…”

“I do not have a strong view on that, but those are some of the issues we would want to consider.”

“I am open to considering that. The concerns that we have are as Liz and I have set out, but we are certainly not averse to looking at those sorts of ideas.”

“Obviously, using a handheld mobile phone while you are driving is clearly illegal. We do not want people to be driving in a distracted fashion. I am sure it has always been the case that you would have radio calls while you were driving. I do not think it is good practice for people to drive and have conversations on t…”

“That is a really difficult judgment. I come from a background of having been a trade union official. It is not unusual for someone who is not arrested, obviously—well, he could be arrested­—but who is facing a serious allegation in a workplace to be suspended, but obviously they would be suspended on full pay.”

“When we look at our provisions or proposals around national minimum standards, our starting point is based on the statutory guidance that the Department already provides and the best practice guidance. When it comes to safeguarding, we expect all drivers to have an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service and barred lis…”

“In making decisions, you want to have the fullest possible information to help you to make those decisions. Clearly, the police can share information on those who might not have a conviction that would result in them appearing on enhanced and barred lists, but that might cause you to apply that fit and proper person te…”

“It is certainly a conversation and a discussion I had with the Institute of Licensing, and I am sure you heard that. I suppose what we want to do is to make sure that there is consistent decision-making, in line with the national minimum standards and the licensing authorities’ own policies. My view would be that the r…”