The safety problem in taxi and private-hire isn’t a shortage of powers or a need for ever-bigger crackdowns. It’s authorities not consistently using the powers they already have—too often defaulting to paper exercises (DBS tick-boxes, template letters) instead of a full, evidence-led judgement about whether a person is safe and suitable to carry the public. Where authorities apply the law and guidance rigorously, safety follows. Where they don’t, “more enforcement” is just noise.
