§ Dr. WhiteheadTo ask the Secretary of state for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what percentage of licensed hackney carriages in England and Wales were wheelchair accessible in(a) 1997, (b) 1998 and (c) 1999. [127583]
§ Mr. HillThe licensing of hackney carriages—taxis—is a matter for individual local licensing authorities. Many of them have policies which require all or part of their fleet to be accessible to disabled people, for example all London taxis (some 19,000) were required to be accessible from 1 January 2000. Information on the number of vehicles that are accessible is not, however, held centrally.
§ Dr. WhiteheadTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to ensure that licensed private hire cars are wheelchair accessible. [127582]
§ Mr. HillWe have no powers to require that licensed private hire vehicles be wheelchair accessible. The powers provided in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to introduce accessibility regulations only apply to licensed taxis, buses and coaches and rail vehicles.
Our statutory advisers—the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee—will, however, be considering the issue of access to private hire vehicles as part of their work programme.