Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all taxi and minicab drivers undergo disability equality training.

Andrew Jones

Government is committed to building transport networks that work for everyone, including ensuring that disabled people have the same travel choices as other members of society.

Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs) provide a particularly important service for many disabled people and it is therefore vital that their drivers have the knowledge and skills to provide appropriate assistance whenever it is required.

I encourage local licensing authorities to consider how a requirement to undergo disability awareness training might help drivers to feel more confident in providing such assistance, consistent with the authority’s Public Sector Equality Duty.