A full impact assessment was published alongside the Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards in July 2020. This found that if the full cost of the Standards was passed on to drivers, the increased cost would be £62.24 per driver per year which would equate to a three pence increase per fare.

The government has provided an unprecedented package of support for individuals through the pandemic. The majority of taxi drivers are self-employed and so may have been able to benefit from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), which was extended at Budget, through a fourth and fifth grant, until September.

Taxi drivers are amongst the 1.5 million businesses that have accessed the Bounce Back Loan scheme over the past 11 months, which has provided facilities totalling £46.5billion. Taxi drivers experiencing hardship can also apply to the Recovery Loan Scheme, launched earlier this month, which maintains a generous 80% guarantee to ensure lenders continue to have the confidence to lend.

Beyond these schemes, taxi drivers may be able to access other elements of support, including continuation of the uplift in Universal Credit, rental support, mortgage holidays, enhanced Time to Pay for taxes, VAT cuts and deferrals, and other business support grants. At the budget, an extra £425 million business grant funding was announced, on top of the £1.6 billion already allocated, for local authorities to use at their discretion to support local businesses not eligible for Restart Grants, but nonetheless experiencing severe impacts on their business. The taxi and private hire sector may be able to benefit from these recently extended schemes.

Throughout the pandemic, Department for Transport ministers and officials have engaged regularly with other Government departments, including the Treasury, to discuss issues faced by owners, operators and drivers of taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs).

The majority of taxi and PHV drivers are self-employed and can therefore apply for grants through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). Operators and drivers may also be eligible for other sources of support, including locally administered grant funding. An online support finder tool has been made available to help businesses and self-employed workers determine what support is available to them.

The Government has recognised the challenging times faced by the private hire vehicle sector as a result of Covid-19, and throughout the pandemic, has sought to support businesses and individuals.

The overwhelming majority of taxi and private hire vehicle drivers are self-employed, and therefore may have been able to benefit from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). At Budget, the Chancellor announced that SEISS will continue until September, with a fourth and fifth grant, to provide certainty to businesses as the economy reopens.

The government will spend over £33bn supporting those in self-employment through the SEISS throughout this crisis, yet it remains to be just one element of a comprehensive package of support. Those ineligible may still be able to access other elements of the support available, including automatic, self-serve time-to-pay arrangements, loans, welfare support, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.

The Government recognises that this is a challenging time for many sectors and individuals, including self-employed taxi drivers.

The Government has acted to support those that are self-employed and have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, and announced at Budget 2021 that the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will continue until September, with a fourth and a final fifth grant.

The Government will have spent over £33 billion supporting those in self-employment through the SEISS, making it one of the most generous self-employment income COVID-19 support schemes in the world.

The SEISS is not intended to provide a month-by-month replacement of income. Due to the volatility of self-employed income and the lack of granular data that HMRC holds on self-employed trading profits, precise mapping of income replacement month by month is not possible. Instead, the SEISS provides a lump sum payment to support eligible self-employed individuals whose businesses have been affected by coronavirus.

The SEISS is just one part of a wider package of support for the self-employed, which includes automatic, self-serve time-to-pay arrangements, loans, welfare support, and other business support grants.

The Restart Grant and Local Restrictions Support Grant Schemes provides support for those businesses who have been mandated to close under National Restrictions. Grant support for Taxi Drivers may be available through the Additional Restrictions Grant. Local Authorities have discretion to provide support that suits their local area including to support those businesses not required to close but which have had their trade severely affected by the restrictions.

My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced an additional £425m will be made available via the Additional Restrictions Grant meaning that more than £2bn has been made available to Local Authorities since November 2020.

Grant support for Taxi Drivers may be available through the Additional Restrictions Grant, a discretionary scheme administered by Local Authorities. Local Authorities are encouraged to support businesses from all sectors that may have been severely impacted by restrictions but are not eligible for the Restart Grant scheme. Local Authorities can use their local expertise to target businesses to support in their local area.

My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced an additional £425m will be made available via the Additional Restrictions Grant meaning that more than £2bn has been made available to Local Authorities since November 2020.

Guidance for the scheme can be found at GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/971482/additional-restrictions-grant-la-guidance.pdf.

The Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) vehicle lease and hire in the UK, Germany and Northern Europe is primarily covered by the Phoenix II contract with Babcock Land Limited. The costs to the MOD of vehicle hire through the contract are recorded by Top Level Budget (TLB) area, rather than by armed service. The following table provides the costs for vehicle hires, including self-drive cars, those with drivers and specialist vehicles such as those modified to support people with disabilities:

This does not include any local unit level arrangements that might also be in place outside of this contract, for which data could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

For Phase 2 of the COVID 19 vaccination programme, JCVI published its interim advice on 26 February, setting out that the most effective way to minimise hospitalisations and deaths is to continue to prioritise people by age, rather than by occupation. This is because age is assessed to be the strongest factor linked to mortality, morbidity and hospitalisations, and because the speed of delivery is crucial as we provide more people with protection from COVID-19.

If bus, train or taxi drivers are captured in Phase 1 or 2 due to age or clinical need, then they will be vaccinated accordingly. However, there are currently no plans to vaccinate by occupation.

Testing is available to all public transport organisations through the National Worker Testing Programme, including public transport drivers and taxi drivers. The Government’s offer of free test kits to workplaces for staff who cannot work from home has been extended until the end of June 2021.

The majority of taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers are self-employed and can therefore apply for grants through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). A fourth round of the scheme, which will be available from the end of April, was announced in the Budget on 3 March (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/self-employment-income-support-scheme-grant-extension/self-employment-income-support-scheme-grant-extension).

An online ‘support finder’ tool is available to help businesses and self-employed workers determine what financial support is available to them during the pandemic (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/financial-support-for-businesses-during-coronavirus-covid-19).

The income generated from taxi permits at Network Rail managed stations for 20-21 was £16,355.

Government is directly supporting the taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) sector to transition to zero emissions through the Plug in Taxi Grant (PiTG) and the Plug in Car Grant which provides a grant of up to £7,500 taxis and £3,000 respectively. The PiTG has supported the purchasing of over 4,400 vehicles across the UK.

Support has also been provided to increase the availability of a charging infrastructure to meet driver needs. Government has awarded over £20 million to 27 local authorities to deploy almost 800 rapid and fast chargepoints dedicated to electric taxis and PHVs.

Clean Air Zones (CAZ) charge taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) as due to high mileage they can significantly contribute to air pollution, especially in the case of older vehicles. Local Authorities implementing CAZs assess impacts on taxis and PHVs which include wheelchair accessible vehicles. JAQU provides clean air funding (CAF) to mitigate these impacts has paid nearly £400m CAF funding to date. Portsmouth has been awarded £1.8m from this fund and a further award is expected to be made shortly.

Government continues to offer the Plug in Taxi Grant, which provides a grant of up to £7,500 off the cost of eligible ULEV taxis, which must be wheelchair accessible, and has supported over 4,400 vehicles so far. Government has also awarded over £20 million to 27 local authorities to deploy almost 800 rapid and fast chargepoints, dedicated to electric taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs).

Department for Transport officials have recently held two meetings with taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) stakeholders, including the Licensed Private Hire Car Association. These meetings took place on 28 January and 5 February. They focused on issues the taxi and PHV sector is encountering in the context of the pandemic and how these might be addressed.

The Government will continue to engage with the sector on our plans for reforming the regulation of taxis and private hire vehicles, including options to introduce new legislation. The Department is supporting licensing authorities to make use of their extensive existing powers through the Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards issued last year and will consult on updated best practice guidance later this year.

The Government has announced several measures available to UK businesses, including the taxi and private hire sector, to support them through this challenging time. The majority of taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers are self-employed and can therefore apply for grants through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). Over the first three rounds of the scheme, a total of up to £21,570 has been made available. HMRC will announce details of the fourth grant on 3 March 2021.

Owners, operators and drivers of taxis and PHVs may also be eligible for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) or the coronavirus Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS).

In addition, some local authorities are using discretionary grants to support local businesses, including taxi and PHV businesses. Owners, operators and drivers of taxis and PHVs should contact the relevant local authority regarding these schemes.

The Government has launched a ‘support finder’ tool (https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder) to help businesses and self-employed workers quickly and easily determine what financial support is available to them.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Office of National Statistics (ONS) define “Critical worker” occupations. Transport workers currently defined as “critical workers” include those who keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response and EU transition; those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass; and those constructing or supporting the operation of critical transport and border infrastructure through which supply chains pass.

The government is committed to keeping taxi drivers safe, and has published safety guidance specifically for owners, operators and drivers of taxis and private hire vehicles (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-taxis-and-phvs).

We published advice in our safer transport guidance for transport operators recommending that transport operators should ensure a fresh air supply is consistently flowing through vehicles. To achieve this, operators should consider that recirculating air systems may require adjustments to increase fresh air flow. Government guidance for drivers, operators and owners of taxis and private hire vehicles also states that the recirculated air option for the car’s ventilation system should not be used when carrying passengers.

The Government wants disabled people to be able to travel easily and confidently and considers that ensuring taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers complete effective disability awareness training is an important step in making this a reality.

In our response to the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and PHV Licensing in 2019, we committed to mandate the completion by drivers of such training when Parliamentary time allowed. This remains our position.

In the meantime, we expect local licencing authorities to use their existing powers to ensure that all taxi and PHV drivers have the knowledge and skills necessary to assist every passenger.