Taxi Driver Online

Unite, to their credit, is not giving up on this.

Year on from Casey Report cross border taxi hiring still threat to women and children

https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-even ... d-children

“Out of area” licensing loophole endangering passengers and destroying taxi and private hire car livelihoods

On the first anniversary since the Casey Report found that cross border hiring puts women and children at risk and needs urgent reform, the government has still done nothing, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today.

Unite is also concerned current plans by the Department for Transport to tackle the issue of out of area working have been watered down, as it has said it will not bring in a start or finish rule – a key demand from the union to end cross border hiring and protect taxi drivers who play by the rules.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The government must stop offering weak alternatives and deliver real protections for passengers and drivers.

“It’s been a year since the Casey Report said urgent reforms were needed to stop cross border hiring and still nothing has happened.

“Both the transport secretary and the transport select committee are full of platitudes about stopping out of area working. But Unite is yet to see plans for a start or finish rule that would do that.”

Cross border hiring happens when a private hire booking is accepted by an operator licensed in one local authority, but the journey itself is carried out in another local council area - well beyond the regulatory reach of the licensing authority.

At present, this is being exploited by some drivers. This leaves passengers with inconsistent safety standards depending on where the driver is licensed, causes local drivers who follow the rules to lose work to those operating out of area and leaves local authorities unable to enforce rules or safety standards on drivers working in the area.

The only way to end the present problems and improve safety is the implementation of a start or finish rule that requires every private hire journey to begin or end in the driver’s licensed area.

Unite has also criticised the Transport Select Committee’s report published last week for failing to include measures that meaningfully end out of area working.

Unite national officer for passenger transport Wayne King said: “It is shameful that the government has failed to implement a key recommendation of the Casey Report, leaving children vulnerable to sexual exploitation and trafficking.

“By implementing a start or finish rule Heidi Alexander has the opportunity to protect young people from criminal gangs out to abuse them. This is the only way to implement the Casey report’s recommendations and reverse the race to the bottom on passenger safety.”

Unite has launched the Stand Up For Taxi and Private Hire Drivers campaign to close the licensing loophole that has caused cross border hiring.

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IDFIMH

There's also a couple of videos, a briefing paper and a flyer available on this linked page from the one above.

https://www.unitetheunion.org/campaigns ... re-drivers

I think that's all a bit older than the new press release posted by Sussex, but it all seems to be part of the same package.

Anyway, worth spending a few minutes watching the videos. The sound on both is very odd, and just doesn't sound real

And, let's just say that it's a good job there's sub-titles on the one from Wales in particular

(But the background music certainly doesn't help...)

And I'm sure the couple in the back of the taxi are just ordinary member of the public, and their points aren't scripted at all

And the one shot from the back of the black cab is also a bit odd in terms of the sound.

And the daftie behind the wheel looks like he's reading from a script, while negotiating busy traffic...

I mean, he's stationary most of the time, but how to spoil a promotional video like that - couldn't he just have read his script while stopped?

(And some of the information in the vids seems a bit behind the curve. But maybe that's because they're a bit older than the recent news release.)

OK, so I've use the word 'and' to start five of the sentences above

But I'm not changing them now

For what it's worth, this is what the home secretary said in a written House of Commons statement last week on the one year anniversary of the Casey Report.

This is just the preamble and the taxi-specific bit - for the full statement, just visit the link.


One year on: Government delivery of recommendations from Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

Home Office written statement – made at on 16 June 2026.

Shabana Mahmood

The Secretary of State for the Home Department

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id= ... ws115.h&s=

Today, marks one year since the publication of Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and one year since this Government accepted all 12 recommendations.

This was a landmark report, exposing more than a decade of inaction in the face of these appalling crimes and it is right that these findings continue to command the highest level of attention.

Victims and survivors were, time after time, let down by the very institutions responsible for keeping them safe, despite repeated warnings and longstanding recommendations for action. This Government has been clear that we will not lose any more time in pursuing truth and justice for victims and survivors, who deserve so much better. I remain determined that we confront these failings directly and decisively. We must be clear‑eyed about what went wrong, ensure full accountability, and drive the lasting change that is so urgently needed.

I want to take this opportunity to update the House on the Government’s progress in delivering all 12 of Baroness Casey’s recommendations and driving the change that victims and survivors deserve.


In response to Recommendation 11, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 includes provisions to set national standards for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing, to ensure there are high safeguarding standards applied across the country. The Department for Transport will consult on these standards later this year. Through the Act, the Government also has powers to allow all licensing authorities to take immediate action where there is an urgent risk to public safety, wherever a taxi or private hire vehicle is licensed or operating. The King’s Speech announced the development of a draft Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny during this Parliamentary session, which will go further still. This will include reforming regulation of taxis and private hire vehicles, stronger enforcement powers for regulators, mandating a national database of all licensees and taking action so that operators and drivers are licensed where they intend to work.

So probably fair to say that there's nothing particularly new there, except that it's a change to have it delivered via the Home Office and the home secretary as opposed to via the DfT and the transport secretary or her ministers.

But maybe a signal right at the end there that the Home Office a bit more intent on tacking cross-border working than the DfT?

I've kind of lost track of all this, but it does seem that the politicians in the form of the home secretary, the transport secretary and the chair of the transport committee all seem a bit more intent on doing something about cross-bordering than the civil servants at the DfT?

Maybe the ducks are all lining up, but the biggest duck will be the next PM.

He has a lot to live up to, in respect of cross-border, and I'm quite certain the likes of Unite will ensure his actions follow his many words on the issue.

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IDFIMH