07/12/2025
🟦 UNITE THE UNION SAY WRITE TO YOUR MP - Tell your MP to Fix Taxi & Private Hire Licensing: Protect Local Jobs. Protect Public Safety
Across England, taxi and private hire laws are broken. Out-of-area licensing lets drivers work anywhere in the country — even if they’re licensed hundreds of miles away.
THIS MEANS:
◾️Local councils cannot enforce the rules on the drivers working in their area.
◾️Local drivers who follow the rules lose work to out-of-area operators.
◾️Passengers face inconsistent safety standards depending on where the driver is licensed.
◾️Big Operators exploit loopholes while local workers and communities pay the price.
◾️At Gatwick Airport, Uber has a sponsorship deal despite being licensed by Transport for London, not Crawley Borough Council. Thousands of out-of-area drivers now work at Gatwick, pushing local drivers out. This is happening nationwide — Gatwick simply exposes the problem.
The independent Casey Report was clear: weak, inconsistent licensing creates real safeguarding risks and undermines public confidence. Yet Government has still not acted, leaving communities and local workers to suffer the consequences.
UNITE IS CAMPAIGNING FOR:
🔹One national set of safety and licensing standards
🔹A “Start or Finish” rule so every job begins or ends in the driver’s licensed area
🔹Stronger enforcement powers for councils
🔹Tougher penalties for repeated breaches
🔹Fine revenue kept locally to fund enforcement
🔹We need Parliament to act now. Will you write to your MP and demand they step in and stop this?
