HC Deb 01 March 1956 vol 549 cc1342-3
14. Mr. Fenner Brockway

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has now reached decisions on recommendations of the Working Party on Hackney carriages, and particularly the recommendation that station taxi-ranks should be open to all licensed taxicab drivers when they can be served from a supplementary nearby rank.

Major Lloyd-George

As the Answer is rather long, I will with permission circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Mr. Fenner Brockway

May I ask the right hon. and gallant Gentleman whether this is not a simple request to him to say whether he is accepting recommendations? Does his reply indicate that he is giving us some indication of recommendations which he accepts and others which he rejects?

Major Lloyd-George

The Answer is long and deals with the full scope of the Working Party, which had to deal with many other things in addition to those referred to by the hon. Gentleman. If he will be good enough to look at the Answer, I shall be glad to reply to any further Question he puts down.

Mr. Brockway

In, view of the fact that Mr. Benn Levy before me, and myself for five years, have been pressing this matter, may I ask the right hon. and gallant Gentleman whether he would be prepared to receive a deputation of Members of Parliament concerned about this issue?

Major Lloyd-George

I am always ready to receive any requests from hon. Members of this House. On this issue, which I think the hon. Gentleman has particularly in mind, namely, Hackney carriages in station taxi-ranks, the difficulty is that no evidence has been produced of great public interest, but I am prepared to listen to what hon. Gentlemen have to say.

Following is the Answer: The Working Party was appointed in 1949 to examine the law relating to hackney carriages, with special reference to the need for modernising those provisions which were obsolete and for making recommendations. The Working Party, which was at first constituted of representatives of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, the Transport and General Workers' Union, the London Motor-Cab Proprietors' Association, the Taxi Fleet Operators' Federation and the Motor Cab Owner-Driver Association, with a Home Office Chairman, made two Interim Reports relating to London hackney carriage law. The First Interim Report dealt with the question of the limitation of the number of cabs and cab drivers in London, on which the Government declared their policy at the time. The Second Interim Report dealt generally with the law relating to hackney carriages in the Metropolitan Police District. On a number of major points, and some minor ones, the Working Party, whilst suggesting that changes in the law were desirable, were unable to reach agreed recommendations. I regret that this Report therefore does not provide any basis on which legislation could be framed. The Working Party was then reconstituted to include representatives of the Association of Municipal Corporations, the Urban District Councils' Association, and the National Taxi-car Association in place of the representatives of London interests, and presented a Final Report dealing with provincial hackney carriage law. This Report was unanimous except on a few minor points, and, although changes in the law were recommended, it has produced no evidence that the existing law, which, unlike the London law, is contained in a single statute, gives rise to any substantial practical difficulty. In view of these conclusions, I can hold out no hope of the introduction of legislation on this subject at an early date.