Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether plans are being developed to upgrade York Station.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government has announced as part of phase one of Northern Powerhouse Rail that it will deliver upgrades between Leeds and York Station in the 2030s. This will be aligned with work being undertaken by Network Rail to develop a sustainable long-term strategy for the East Coast Main Line. We will ensure a coherent plan for the area, building on the work already in hand as part of York Central to maximise the growth opportunities through development and redesign of York Station.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps to change the licensing of taxis in the context of the Casey Review.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government response to Baroness Casey’s report committed to legislate to tackle the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) licensing. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill seeks a power for the Secretary of State to set national minimum standards for taxi and PHV licensing. The power was approved by the House of Commons, and the Bill is now being considered by the House of Lords.
If passed, national minimum standards would enable government to set robust standards for licensing right across England, to keep vulnerable children and, indeed, all members of the public safe, wherever they live or travel. This is an important first step and the Department continues to consider further options for reform. The Government is consulting on making all local transport authorities responsible for taxi and PHV licensing. Administering licensing across larger areas would further increase consistency in licensing and enable better resourced authorities to make better use of their enforcement powers.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the upgrade of York Station will ensure that the East and West entrances are fully accessible.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As part of any future work to develop York Station, we will work closely with Network Rail to ensure that entrances adhere to accessibility standards.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Rail Delivery Group, Network Rail and British Transport Police on the potential merits of a standalone offence of assaulting a public transport worker.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There is no place for abuse or assault of any worker. Public transport workers and the wider public should be assured that where offenders commit acts of violence they will be arrested and brought before the courts. The railway has its own dedicated police force in the British Transport Police (BTP), to protect rail staff and passengers.
Officials from my Department engage regularly with Rail Delivery Group, Network Rail and BTP, and have highlighted that public transport workers already have extensive protection in existing legislation such as the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 which also covers more serious violence such as actual bodily harm (ABH) and grievous bodily harm (GBH), and courts must already consider offences against public facing workers as an aggravating factor under the Police Crime and Sentencing Act 2022. We do not consider that a standalone offence is necessary, or will have the desired outcome of reducing assaults.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of legal protections against assaults at work for public transport workers.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There is no place for abuse or assault of any worker. Public transport workers and the wider public should be assured that where offenders commit acts of violence they will be arrested and brought before the courts. The British Transport Police have a specific remit to protect all rail staff and passengers.
Public transport workers do of course already have extensive protection in existing legislation such as the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 which also covers more serious violence such as actual bodily harm (ABH) and grievous bodily harm (GBH), and courts must already consider offences against public facing workers as an aggravating factor under the Police Crime and Sentencing Act 2022. We therefore do not believe that any further legal protections are necessary or would reduce assaults.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a standalone offence of assaulting a public transport worker.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There is no place for abuse or assault of any worker. Public transport workers and the wider public should be assured that where offenders commit acts of violence they will be arrested and brought before the courts. The British Transport Police have a specific remit to protect all rail staff and passengers.
Public transport workers do of course already have extensive protection in existing legislation such as the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 which also covers more serious violence such as actual bodily harm (ABH) and grievous bodily harm (GBH), and courts must already consider offences against public facing workers as an aggravating factor under the Police Crime and Sentencing Act 2022. We therefore do not believe that creating a specific offence would have the intended purpose of reducing assaults.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her Department's proposed disapplication of Section 132 of the Highways Act 1980 on public safety.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department has made no such proposal. It is for local authorities to determine how to use the powers at their disposal, including those within the Highways Act 1980.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 141 of the report entitled National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, published on 16 June 2025, what steps she plans to take to close the loophole that enables taxi drivers to apply for a license in one area and operate in another.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport will legislate to address the important issues raised in the report, tackling the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licensing. We will work as quickly as possible and consider all options – including out of area working, national standards and enforcement – seeking the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.
In the interim we will act urgently to make improvements, including consulting on making local transport authorities, including combined authorities, responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing, and determining how existing statutory guidance can be strengthened to further protect the public. We are also reviewing authorities’ compliance with existing guidance and will hold those who do not follow it to account.
Some important protections have already been put in place since earlier inquiries into Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. All licensing authorities in England now undertake extensive driver background checks, and since 2023 they are required to use a single database to prevent a driver refused a licence in one area on safety grounds going elsewhere. Careful consideration of the options is needed as we do not want any change to decrease the availability of highly vetted licensed drivers and vehicles and inadvertently increase the use of those offering illegal services that evade these licensing checks.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to ensure that only taxis regulated in a specific (a) combined authority or (b) local authority area will be able to pick up customers from that area.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport will legislate to address the important issues raised in the report, tackling the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licensing. We will work as quickly as possible and consider all options – including out of area working, national standards and enforcement – seeking the best overall outcomes for passenger safety.
In the interim we will act urgently to make improvements, including consulting on making local transport authorities, including combined authorities, responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing, and determining how existing statutory guidance can be strengthened to further protect the public. We are also reviewing authorities’ compliance with existing guidance and will hold those who do not follow it to account.
Some important protections have already been put in place since earlier inquiries into Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. All licensing authorities in England now undertake extensive driver background checks, and since 2023 they are required to use a single database to prevent a driver refused a licence in one area on safety grounds going elsewhere. Careful consideration of the options is needed as we do not want any change to decrease the availability of highly vetted licensed drivers and vehicles and inadvertently increase the use of those offering illegal services that evade these licensing checks.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to ensure that all taxi drivers undertake safeguarding training.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport’s statutory guidance, published in 2020, to licensing authorities on how they should use their powers to protect children and vulnerable adults recommends that they should require taxi and private hire vehicle drivers to undertake safeguarding training. Licensing authorities must have regard to the statutory guidance, and we expect the recommendations to be implemented unless there is a compelling local reason not to. As of 1 April 2024, 96% of licensing authorities in England required the taxi and private hire vehicle drivers they license to undergo awareness training on child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation. We are currently reviewing licensing authorities’ compliance with existing DfT guidance and will hold those who do not follow it to account.
In response to the recommendation made in Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Report in respect of taxis and private hire vehicles, my department has committed to legislate to address the important issues raised in the report, tackling the inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licensing. We are working quickly to consider all options, including national standards, seeking the best overall outcomes for passenger safety. It is highly likely that any national standards would be subject to consultation, with the existing statutory guidance recommendations, including safeguarding training for drivers, providing the starting point for any future national standards.