Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that disabled travellers are not discriminated against when using taxi services.

Disabled people should be able to travel easily, confidently and with dignity, like anybody else and the Government understands the importance of taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) services in making this possible.

Consistent with other service providers, under the Equality Act 2010 taxi and PHV drivers, and PHV operators, are prohibited from discriminating against disabled passengers on grounds of disability and must make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled people to access their services. They also have specific duties to accept the carriage of disabled people and not to charge them more than other passengers.

We encourage licensing authorities in England to use the government’s best practice guidance document which emphasises the importance of licensing authorities continuing to improve the inclusivity of the taxi and PHV services they regulate. This includes taking effective action in response to alleged discriminatory conduct by drivers and operators and ensuring that drivers and operator staff complete training in disability awareness.