The Transport Committee has published a major report on taxi and private hire vehicle licensing, backing the government’s plan for national minimum standards — but warning firmly that those standards must not end up being weak ones.
The report, published on 9 June 2026, comes after the government announced in November 2025 that it intended to legislate for national minimum standards across England, ending the current patchwork of rules that sees more than 260 separate licensing authorities each set their own conditions. The committee supports that direction of travel, but it used its report to send a clear message: minimum must mean meaningful.
The committee’s key concern is that a framework built around minimum standards could, if poorly designed, simply lock in the lowest common denominator — allowing licensing authorities that currently apply lax standards to carry on doing so indefinitely, while giving the impression of reform. The report calls on the government to ensure any national floor is set high enough to make a genuine difference, rather than providing cover for weak licensing.
Out-of-area working — where drivers and operators obtain licences from an authority with looser requirements and then operate elsewhere — was also highlighted as a major problem the government must address with a clear plan. The committee described this practice as enabling “licence shopping,” which in turn undermines public safety and places drivers who comply with tighter local standards at a competitive disadvantage. The issue was also highlighted in Baroness Louise Casey’s 2025 report into group-based sexual exploitation, which warned that licence shopping was hampering safeguarding efforts.
In the King’s Speech in May 2026, the government announced further plans to modernise the system, including the creation of a national database of all licensed taxis and PHVs. The committee’s report adds political weight to calls for that modernisation to go further and faster.
For working drivers, the direction of the debate matters. Stronger national standards could help level the playing field — reducing the competitive advantage currently held by those who licence with authorities that ask less of their drivers. Whether the government takes that on board remains to be seen.
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