Taxi 'licence shopping' is undermining safeguarding efforts around grooming gangs, MPs say

The Transport Committee’s report “Raising the standard”, published today, on licensing taxis and private hire vehicles calls for a “clear plan” to reduce high levels of out-of-area working.

Currently, minicab drivers are free to obtain a licence whichever council is the cheapest or has the laxest requirements.

However, multiple inquiries into grooming gangs in Rotherham, including by Prof Alexis Jay and Baroness Louise Casey, found that failures in private hire licensing such as this have contributed to young girls being exploited and abused.

Taxis were frequently used to pick up grooming gang victims from school and ferry them to abusers. In 2024, Adam Ali, 45, was jailed for abusing girls in the back of his taxi in the early 2000s.

Since then, the council has introduced a “gold standard” licensing scheme, which includes the requirement for CCTV in cabs.

However, the area is still vulnerable to out-of-area working, as there remains no national licensing standard.

Contributing to the Transport Committee’s report, Rotherham Council said that this was “the single biggest threat to the safety of the travelling public in Rotherham”.

It explained that out-of-area drivers know that the local authority’s officers are “essentially powerless” to enforce standards against them.

The council also said that it had dealt with “numerous” cases where having CCTV footage from taxis either protected passengers or led to the apprehension and prosecution of offenders.

Giving evidence to the committee, Rotherham MP Sarah Champion said: “Failures in local licensing regimes, in particular the licensing of taxis and private hire vehicles, were recognised as a significant contributing factor to the horrific child sexual exploitation that occurred in my constituency.

“In response, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council introduced some of the most stringent licensing regimes in the country.

“I’m proud that Rotherham is leading the way in taxi licensing standards but remain concerned that unscrupulous drivers from other areas can practice in my constituency without the same level of scrutiny.”

Ms Champion has written to the Transport Secretary over the Government’s plans to move private hire licensing from councils to combined authorities, like West or South Yorkshire.

The MP, who has raised issues with cross-border working for more than a decade, said she was concerned this could mean “driving down standards” for places like Rotherham.

While Leeds City Council told the Transport Committee that this would mean that “border hopping” would just become “region hopping”.

The council said that if standards varied between regions then drivers would continue to obtain licences in areas with lower fees or weaker requirements.

Ruth Cadbury, chair of the Transport Committee, said: “The committee welcomes the Government’s determination to turn this around with minimum standards, but we are clear that these standards should be high, comprehensive and consistent, with safety as absolute – both for drivers and passengers.

“Ministers should also build on the foundations they have laid with a blueprint for bringing down high levels of out-of-area working that has undermined public confidence in the sector and made enforcement harder.

“By taking tough action now, we can ensure license shopping is disincentivised, taxis are safer and passengers get the same high standards wherever they are in the country.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Everyone deserves to feel safe when using a taxi or private hire vehicle. We’re directly acting on Baroness Casey’s recommendations - introducing robust national standards in licensing and giving authorities new powers to crack down on dangerous vehicles and drivers wherever they operate.

“We’re determined to further boost passenger safety by modernising taxi and private hire vehicle laws, and will be publishing draft legislation, so people feel safe wherever they live, work or travel.”