Lord Blencathra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Blencathra on 2016-09-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure that taxis are wheelchair accessible; and whether they plan to set a target for all taxi firms and hire car operators to have a minimum number of wheelchair accessible vehicles in their fleets by 2020.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) play an important role in enabling disabled people to complete door-to-door journeys independently, and it is essential that they are accessible to those needing to use them.

Local licensing authorities already have powers to determine the categories of vehicle included in their fleets, and we encourage them to ensure a range of passengers are catered for. Whilst wheelchair accessible vehicles are vital for some passengers, for some ambulant disabled people they can be difficult to access. As such we encourage authorities to consider the needs of all potential passengers when determining the make-up of their taxi and PHV fleets.

We currently have no plans to set minimum quotas for wheelchair accessible vehicles.