The UK Government has launched a new public consultation examining whether responsibility for taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) licensing should be moved away from individual councils and handed to local transport authorities (LTAs) instead.
The consultation, published on GOV.UK, looks at how licensing currently works across England and whether the system should be simplified by reducing the number of authorities involved. Alongside the consultation document, the government has opened an official online SmartSurvey, inviting responses from drivers, operators, councils, passengers and other stakeholders.
This marks one of the most significant potential reforms to taxi and PHV regulation in years.
What the government is proposing
At present, taxi and PHV licensing is handled by hundreds of individual local councils, each with its own policies, conditions, fees and enforcement approaches. The consultation asks whether these responsibilities should instead sit with local transport authorities, such as combined authorities or county-level bodies.
A central theme of the consultation is whether this change would:
- Reduce fragmentation in the licensing system
- Cut down the number of licensing authorities across England
- Replace many small council areas with fewer, larger regional licensing areas
- Improve consistency in standards and enforcement
Under the proposals, licensing would be managed across wider regions rather than council-by-council, potentially reshaping how drivers are licensed and how rules are applied.
Fewer councils, larger licensing areas
One of the most significant aspects of the consultation is the possible reduction in the number of licensing authorities.
The government is openly asking whether having so many individual councils in charge of licensing creates confusion, inconsistency, and enforcement challenges — particularly where drivers work across multiple council boundaries.
By transferring powers to LTAs, the government believes there could be:
- Fewer licensing bodies overall
- Larger, standardised licensing areas
- Less variation between neighbouring regions
- Stronger enforcement across boundaries
However, the consultation also recognises concerns that fewer authorities could mean less local oversight, and it is seeking views on whether regional bodies could still understand and respond to local issues.
How to take part in the consultation
The consultation is open to anyone with an interest in the taxi and private hire sector. In addition to written responses, the Department for Transport has provided an online SmartSurvey questionnaire, allowing drivers, operators and the public to submit their views directly.
The government has stressed that no final decisions have been made, and that feedback gathered through the consultation and survey will help shape any future policy changes.
What this could mean for drivers and operators
If licensing powers were transferred to local transport authorities, it could affect:
- Where and how drivers apply for licences
- Licensing fees and conditions
- Enforcement practices
- Cross-border and out-of-area working
- The relationship between drivers and licensing bodies
For some in the trade, this could bring long-awaited consistency. For others, it raises questions about accessibility, accountability, and whether larger authorities could become more distant from day-to-day driver concerns.
DM News Commentary
This consultation is not a small technical tweak — it has the potential to completely reshape taxi and private hire licensing in England.
Reducing hundreds of council licensing areas into far fewer transport authority regions could finally address long-standing complaints about inconsistency and out-of-area licensing. But it also risks removing the local connection many drivers rely on when dealing with licensing issues.
Whether this change would improve fairness or simply centralise power depends on how it’s designed — and crucially, on whether drivers actually engage with the process. If the trade stays silent, decisions may be made without real-world driver experience being properly represented.
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