Taxi Driver Online

Nothing particularly interesting here, except maybe if you're a resident or driver in Harlow.

But of interest is working out what that word in the first paragraph is supposed to be

No, me neither


Harlow MP Chris Vince raises subjects of out of town taxi licences

https://www.yourharlow.com/2026/05/20/h ... -licences/

HARLOW MP Chris Vince rose on the floor of House of Commons to discuss the subject of taxis licensed in the recoil authorities operating in another authority.

We understand Mr Vince is referring to Harlow taxis with Wolverhampton licenses.

Mr Vince said: “My hon. Friend will know of my passion for taxis and taxi licensing. Does she agree that it is important that we deal with this licensing loophole to ensure that we do not have taxis that are licensed in other local authorities acting in our authority? That does not just affect the drivers; it is also a safety concern for passengers.

Chairman of Transport Committee, Ruth Cadbury replied.

“I very much welcome the work that the Minister for Roads has done on the proposed changes. I welcome the commitment to replace a patchwork of outdated rules with a single consistent framework, which will go a long way to addressing the out-of-area operations and problems that Ayoub Khan outlined, and it will fix a system that too often has failed passengers and drivers.

Baroness Casey’s “National audit on group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse” found that inconsistent taxi and private hire vehicle licensing creates vulnerabilities that can be, and were, exploited by grooming gangs.

“The announcement of that legislation follows the welcome commitment in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 to introduce minimum standards for drivers, operators and licensing authorities.

“However, many fear that minimum standards could perpetuate inconsistencies that affect vulnerable passengers, and they are seeking not minimum but absolute standards in taxi licensing”.

But, of course, interesting comment from the TransComm chair at the end about seeking 'absolute' rather than 'minimum' standards

Maybe that will feature in the TransComm report, which will be published...

reports , draft bills buried lots of bluster but will anything actually happen ?

I doubt it once he's PM Burnham will forget about taxis

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

I think that mandatory minimum standards will be what we get, and I suppose that could encompass the mentioned absolute.

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IDFIMH

'Absolute' is maybe a strange term to use - presumably what she really meant is still a national standard, but not bargain basement, sort of thing. I mean, what else could 'absolute' possibly mean when it's presumably more strict than 'minimum' standards?

I mean, if what is meant is something like an age rule, maybe a minimum standard would be ten-years-old.

So what might absolute mean? A six-year old on rule, say? In which case it's still a minimum standard, but just a bit stricter.

What else could 'absolute' mean?