Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many complaints his Department has received in each of the last five years on mini cab drivers refusing service to customers with guide dogs.

Responsibility for investigating alleged instances of illegal discrimination by taxi and private hire drivers, and for taking further action where appropriate, rests with respective local licensing authorities, and the Government does not collate statistics on the occurrence of individual incidents.

We plan to undertake research to understand why some drivers continue to refuse passengers with assistance dogs, and what further steps could be taken to eliminate such unacceptable behaviour.