SP4 Response Accepted

Taxi driver duty to report criminal activity

Recommendation

The Department for Transport should require local authorities to ensure that all licensed taxi drivers have a clear duty promptly to report any significant criminal activity they witness while working. This duty should form part of mandatory training, and a failure to report such activity, subject to individual circumstances, should place the driver’s licence at risk. Local authorities should implement practical measures to ensure that drivers have read, understood and acknowledged this requirement.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- The Department for Transport stated on 27 November 2025 that it proposed national minimum standards for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing across England, to be introduced through an amendment to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill giving the Transport Secretary power to introduce standards subject to consultation (New national standards on taxi licensing proposed to protect passengers, Department for Transport, November 2025).
- The Department for Transport opened a consultation running from 8 January 2026 to 1 April 2026 on transferring licensing responsibility to local transport authorities in England (Local transport authorities and the licensing of taxis and private hire vehicles, Department for Transport, January 2026).
- The Department for Transport stated in its response that it is the lead department and expects to complete implementation of this recommendation by late 2027, that National Standards will be introduced through secondary legislation expected to be laid in 2027 subject to public consultation, and that implementation is likely to include familiarisation and adoption periods (Government Response to Phase 1 of the Southport Inquiry, CP 1623, Home Office, July 2026).
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by claude-opus-4-8 on 02 Jul 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Accepted
Accepted Department for Transport
02 Jul 2026

The Department for Transport (DfT) is the lead department and expects to complete implementation of this recommendation by late 2027. Progress and next steps:
- National Standards will be introduced through secondary legislation.
- Secondary legislation setting the National Standards is expected to be laid in 2027, subject to public consultation.
- Implementation is likely to include familiarisation and adoption periods.

Read Full Response
Progress Timeline
Department for Transport states: Official Report
02 Jul 2026

Government response published 2 July 2026 (CP 1623). The government accepted this recommendation; the lead department reports implementation is in progress.

Source
Manual Entry
13 Apr 2026

Awaiting government response. Phase 1 report published 13 April 2026.

Source
Inquiry Southport Inquiry
Report The Southport Inquiry Report: Phase 1 13 Apr 2026
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Department for Transport Primary
Themes & Tags
Staff training and development Public protection planning Emergency Response Policing
Recommendation age 0.3 yrs
Last formal update 02 Jul 2026