Business of the House

Louise Haigh Excerpts

Thursday 15th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Campbell]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to highlight the positive impact of immigration, but he also has to be cognisant of the concern about levels of immigration, which the Government are taking seriously. We have made it absolutely clear that no one should have to wait a long time to hear about a decision, and the Home Office is implementing reforms. However, there was a considerable backlog when we came into office, and that extends not only to making decisions but to making sure that people hear about them in a reasonable timeframe. Significant progress has been made in reducing the decision backlog, with the number of people awaiting an initial decision down by more than half from the June 2023 peak, but if the hon. Gentleman has specific cases that he wishes me to raise, I will certainly raise them with the relevant Minister, as I will his general concern.

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield Heeley) (Lab)]

It is not possible to get in a taxi at the moment without the driver rightly raising concerns about cross-border hiring. When the Tories deregulated the taxi licensing laws in 2013 in response to lobbying from Uber, they undermined safeguarding—in particular for children and women—undercut local markets and undermined the standards of service that taxi drivers want to provide to their customers. I know that the Government are introducing national minimum standards for taxis, but that does not go the whole way to tackling this really important issue. Will the Leader of the House ensure that there is time in the second Session of this Parliament to legislate on cross-border hiring and put proper safety, safeguarding and service standards back at the heart of our taxi industry?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

My right hon. Friend raises a very important issue. She is a strong campaigner on these matters and I welcome her contribution. We tabled amendments to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill as a first step, but, as she acknowledges, we are also committed to delivering robust national minimum standards so that passengers can travel with confidence. She would not expect me to comment on what might or might not happen in the second Session, but we continue to consider future legislative options on these matters, because there is further work to be done.