The Department has published today a revised version of its best practice guidance for taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) licensing authorities.

A copy has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

The purpose of the guidance is to assist licensing authorities in carrying out their taxi and PHV licensing functions.

The key aim of the guidance is to ensure that the decisions which licensing authorities make deliver a good and safe service to the public having taken account of all the factors involved, including, for example, the effect on the supply of taxis and PHVs of unnecessary rules and restrictions.

Publication of guidance was initially recommended by the Office of Fair Trading in the context of their market study in 2003. The first guidance was published in 2006. This revised version takes account of comments received as part of a consultation exercise in 2009.