SP5 Response Accepted

Taxi company and school safeguarding arrangements

Recommendation

The Department for Transport should ensure that local authorities establish effective arrangements between licensed taxi companies and schools. These should enable school safeguarding teams to access taxi booking information where relevant to a legitimate safeguarding or risk concern relating to a child who should be at school.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- The Department for Transport opened a consultation running from 8 January 2026 to 1 April 2026 on the licensing of taxis and private hire vehicles by 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 significant elements by mid-2027, that it will work with the Department for Education and the Information Commissioner's Office to develop guidance on sharing of booking data between schools and private hire vehicle operators expected to be published by mid-2027, and that the draft Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Bill will be brought forward for pre-legislative scrutiny during this Parliamentary session (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 significant elements of this recommendation by mid-2027, while the draft bill is subject to parliamentary timings. Progress and next steps:
- DfT will work with Department for Education (DfE) and the Information Commissioner's Office to develop guidance on sharing of booking data between schools and private hire vehicle operators, which we expect to publish by mid-2027.
- The draft Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Bill will be brought forward for pre-legislative scrutiny during this Parliamentary session.
- The draft Bill provides an opportunity to consider the full delivery of this recommendation through future primary legislation when parliamentary time allows.

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
Care safeguarding systems Missed Child Safeguarding Referrals Emergency Response Policing
Recommendation age 0.3 yrs
Last formal update 02 Jul 2026