HC Deb 12 July 1973 vol 859 cc1751-2
1. Mr. Evelyn King

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce new legislation dealing with taxi and private hire vehicles.

The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. David Lane)

We recognise that there is a need for such legislation, but I cannot at present say when it will be introduced.

Mr. King

Is not current law based upon an Act of 1847, which was designed to deal with the horse and cab and is wildly inappropriate to radio-controlled hire vehicles? Did not the Home Office promise legislation as long ago as 1954, for local authority associations, having regard to the difficulties arising in Portland, Dorset, and elsewhere? Will my hon. Friend try to hurry this up?

Mr. Lane

Certainly new legislation is overdue. That is quite accepted. But my hon. Friend will remember that we recently passed an Act bringing up to date the situation in London in certain respects, and we are looking at the present legislation for the rest of the country outside London. I realise the urgency of this matter.

Mr. Blenkinsop

Is it fully realised how urgent this matter is now becoming? In many of our towns serious problems of semi-violence are occurring because of the unfairness of the treatment of the taxi-cab operator as against the private hire operator. This is very deeply felt. I ask the hon. Gentleman to hasten action on the matter.

Mr. Lane

I know that this matter is urgent. I have said that previously. But it is not a simple matter to get new legislation right if we are covering the whole country, where circumstances differ very much from area to area. We are pressing on as quickly as we can.

Sir T. Beamish

Is my hon. Friend aware of the near impossibility of telling whether a taxi in London is for hire, particularly if the sun is behind it? Is it impossible to devise a system that will cause less frustration than the present one?

Mr. Lane

I should not fancy myself as a designer of cab signs, but I hope that the new London Cab Act, which the House passed a few months ago, will help considerably in a number of ways in the London area.

Mr. John Fraser

As the Home Office has now had for a considerable time the Maxwell Stamp Report, which deals with hire cars and taxis and could well be applicable outside London, may we have a statement of the Government's views early in the next Session, as a prelude to legislation?

Mr. Lane

Certainly, I hope that we shall be able to say something more in the next Session. Meanwhile, we are resuming our discussions with the Greater London Council about the Maxwell Stamp Report and we shall press forward with that also.