Private Hire Licensing Changes 2026: Passenger Guide
A private hire vehicle in England is licensed by one specific local authority, and until now only that authority could realistically act against the licence — even if the vehicle spent its entire working life two counties away. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026, whose Royal Assent was announced on 29 April 2026, changes that: it allows enforcement officers to suspend a licence issued by a different authority, and gives the Transport Secretary power to set national minimum standards. As of October 2026 those provisions are on the statute book but not yet in force, and a separate proposal to cut England’s 263 licensing authorities to around 70 is still awaiting a government response.
Why licensing geography matters on an airport run
Private hire licensing in England is split three ways: the driver, the vehicle and the operator each need a licence, and all three should normally come from the same authority. That authority sets the standards — medical, knowledge test, DBS check, vehicle age and condition limits, insurance and record-keeping — and investigates complaints.
Airport work stretches this system harder than almost any other kind of journey. A single Gatwick or Heathrow transfer can begin in one district, cross two or three more, and end at a terminal in a fourth. Gatwick sits in West Sussex; Heathrow sits inside Greater London, where Transport for London is the licensing authority. A vehicle collecting a passenger in Surrey and dropping at Heathrow may hold its licence from a council nowhere near either end of the trip.
That is what “out-of-area working” means: a driver, vehicle and operator licensed in one place but working mainly somewhere else. The Department for Transport’s announcement of proposals to reduce out-of-area working, published on 8 January 2026, describes the practice as creating safety risks and unfair competition, and links it to the finding in Baroness Casey’s national audit on group-based child sexual exploitation that out-of-area taxis needed addressing. The department’s reasoning is structural rather than moral: the more boundaries there are, the more opportunities exist to seek out the least demanding set of rules.
For a passenger the consequence is narrower but real: if something goes wrong, the complaint must go to the authority that issued the licence, which may be a council in a part of the country you have never visited.
What the Act actually does
Chapter 6 of Part 3 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 is headed “Licensing of taxis and private hire vehicles” and runs from section 70 to section 86. It does two distinct things.
National standards. Sections 70 to 74 let the Secretary of State prescribe standards that bite at the point a licence is granted, renewed, suspended or revoked. A “national standard” is defined simply as a standard prescribed by the Secretary of State. Regulations can require a licensing authority to refuse a licence where a standard is not met, or merely permit it to; they can also require the applicant to be given a chance to put the failure right. Under section 74 the standards can reach beyond the licence holder to vehicles, premises and services, and can require specific action such as training or installing equipment. The government’s announcement of the national standards proposal, published on 27 November 2025, says the standards themselves will be consulted on, with passenger safety and accessibility as the focus.
Cross-border suspension. Sections 76 to 82 are the sharper change. Under Chapter 6 as enacted, an enforcement officer appointed by an English licensing authority may suspend a driver, vehicle or operator licence — including one granted by a different English authority — where the vehicle is being driven in the officer’s enforcement area and the officer considers suspension necessary in the interests of public safety with immediate effect. The suspension takes effect when notice is given and ceases at the end of 48 hours, a period the Secretary of State may change by regulations. The authority that issued the licence must be notified within 24 hours and then decides whether to end, extend or let the suspension lapse. Licence holders can appeal to a magistrates’ court, and compensation may be payable in defined circumstances.
Section 75 is the quieter companion to this. It amends the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022 so that an English licensing authority which becomes aware of relevant information, or of a breach of a national standard, about a driver licensed elsewhere must act on it where that person has driven in its area — and it allows the Secretary of State to require authorities to publish collated data on those reports.
What is in force as of October 2026
Not Chapter 6. The legislation.gov.uk text marks the chapter as prospective: the provisions were not in force at Royal Assent, and commencement is left to section 108. Until commencement regulations are made, the 48-hour suspension power does not exist in practice, and no national standards have been prescribed.
Nor has the structural reform been settled. The consultation on local transport authorities and the licensing of taxis and private hire vehicles opened on 8 January 2026 and closed on 1 April 2026. As of October 2026 it is shown as closed with no response published, the Department for Transport saying one will follow in due course.
The proposal itself is substantial. England currently has 263 licensing authorities — 164 district councils, 62 unitary authorities, 36 metropolitan councils and Transport for London — and the consultation would move licensing to around 70 local transport authorities, with London excluded because TfL already licenses there. Greater Manchester’s 10 licensing authorities would become one. The consultation notes that the change would need legislation and would be implemented alongside local government reorganisation, so the timetable is tied to that wider programme rather than to a fixed date.
The summary for anyone booking travel is that nothing about licensing has changed for passengers this year. The direction is clear; the commencement dates are not.
How to check a licence yourself
Three checks are available to anyone, and none of them depends on the reforms above.
- The vehicle plate. A licensed private hire vehicle normally displays a plate or disc showing the issuing authority, a licence number and an expiry date. The authority named is the one that regulates that vehicle, and the one any complaint goes to.
- The driver’s badge. Private hire drivers are licensed individually and are generally required to carry or display identification issued by the same authority.
- The licensing authority’s records. For journeys in London, Transport for London publishes a licence checker for taxi and private hire licences. Outside London, the issuing council’s licensing team holds the equivalent records; practice on public search tools varies by authority.
One long-standing rule is worth knowing alongside this. A private hire vehicle may only be booked in advance through a licensed operator; it cannot lawfully be hailed in the street or take a fare at the roadside. That pre-booking requirement is a passenger’s main structural protection, because it creates a journey record held by a licensed business.
Frequently asked questions
Is it illegal for a minicab to work outside the area it is licensed in?
No. As of October 2026 a vehicle, driver and operator licensed by one English authority may lawfully work elsewhere in England, provided all three licences come from the same authority. The reforms are aimed at reducing the practice and at making enforcement possible across boundaries, not at banning it outright.
When does the 48-hour cross-border suspension power start?
No date has been set. The provisions in Chapter 6 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 were not in force at Royal Assent and are to be commenced under section 108.
Will the number of licensing authorities really fall from 263 to 70?
That is what the Department for Transport consulted on between 8 January and 1 April 2026. No government response had been published as of October 2026, and the change would require further legislation.
Who do I complain to about a private hire journey?
First the licensed operator that took the booking, then the licensing authority named on the vehicle plate — not the authority where the journey took place. For journeys licensed in London, that is Transport for London.