§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to seek powers to regulate drivers' hours of work in respect of taxis and hire cars; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. David MitchellI have no such plans, as there is no evidence of safety problems caused by taxi or hire car drivers' hours of work. Although many taxi drivers work quite long hours, their working day, unlike that of a bus driver, is generally interspersed with long periods of rest.
Clause 12 of the Transport Bill allows licensed taxi operators to obtain PSV operators' licences and to register local services under the new system the Bill is to introduce. In such cases, taxi drivers would be subject to public service vehicle drivers' hours rules. But for normal taxi or hire car services, or for the shared use of taxis or hire cars under clause 10 or 11 of the Transport Bill, we see no need for such control.