Under the information of freedom act I would like the following information. I writing on behalf of Dacorum Hackney and private hire taxi association to find out the licensed granted by TFL to uber, what is the jurisdiction for the that license. Is to work within London or the whole of England.

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TfL Ref: FOI-1865-1920

Thank you for your request received on 19 September 2019 asking for information about licences granted by Transport for London.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require.

Transport for London (TfL) is the licensing authority and regulator for London taxi and private hire services. Uber London Limited is licensed to accept private hire bookings in London.

As it stands, private hire vehicles are not restricted from taking bookings anywhere in England and Wales, provided the vehicle, driver and operator are licensed by the same licensing authority and the booking is accepted at the licensed operating centre within this authority. There are currently no restrictions on where those journeys start or finish.  This is sometimes referred to as cross border hiring and is identified in the Mayor’s Taxi and Private Hire Action Plan 2016 as a key challenge facing the taxi and private hire sector.

In March 2018 TfL published a policy paper setting out a series of proposals to Government in order to address cross border hiring. A copy of the paper can be found here: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/cross-border-hiring-proposals.pdf.

More recently TfL played an active part of the Department for Transport’s Taxi and Private Hire Task and Finish Group. In September 2018 the group published a report which included a number of recommendations including a start/finish requirement. The full report is available here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-licensing-recommendations-for-a-safer-and-more-robust-system. 

In its published response to the report the Government has committed to further exploring the Task and Finish Group’s recommendations on cross border hiring: www.gov.uk/government/publications/taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-licensing-government-response-to-independent-report.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Sara Thomas

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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