Found the bit on taxis in Casey report. TL:DR - best practice does include video recording in taxis, implemented in Rotherham following the problems with grooming gangs there. Why this isn't the case everywhere is a mystery (other than those in charge not caring much about women or girls).
There is no excuse, none at all for these safeguards not to be an absolute mandatory requirement everywhere in the UK - to stop rapes in taxis. Burnham comes out of this quite well, at least (some good news).
Below is cut and pasted from here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-audit-on-group-based-child-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse/national-audit-on-group-based-child-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse-accessible#chapter-7-taxi-licensing
Chapter 7: Taxi licensing
Chapter summary:
- As a key part of the nighttime economy, taxis have historically been identified as a way children can be at risk of sexual exploitation.
- Local authorities issue taxi licences in line with statutory guidance issued by the government. Some go above and beyond this statutory guidance as a means of combating child sexual exploitation but they are being hindered by a lack of stringency in other local authorities, and legal loopholes which mean drivers can apply for a licence anywhere in the country.
- Proper safeguards in the licensing of taxis is as much about protecting the drivers as the passengers.
- The Department for Transport should close this loophole immediately and introduce more rigorous standards.
In chapter 5 we looked at the ways in which children who are at risk of or come to harm from sexual exploitation come to the attention of police, children’s services and health services. We concluded that their presence was often not visible and, in these circumstances, it is much harder for local authorities, health and police to see where children are and if they are at risk. This is particularly the case with children who are looked after by the state but also for other adolescent children who become more vulnerable to exploitation whether that is online, in parks or shopping centres, in takeaways, buses or in taxis.
While the subject of taxi licensing might seem to be just one dimension of local authority responsibility, which could have been placed into chapter 5 of this audit, the ability of local authorities to control and regulate who is a fit and proper person to drive a taxi in their area has the potential to be an important lever to safeguard children and others who are vulnerable to child sexual exploitation. In this audit’s visits to police forces and local authorities, we found that issues around taxi licensing – which have featured in several past reviews as a facilitator of child sexual exploitation, and on which some action has been taken - continued to be of concern and warranted the attention we give it here.
To be absolutely clear, most taxi drivers are law-abiding people providing an important service to the public. There are many occasions where taxi drivers have gone above and beyond to protect members of the public and to support the police and other emergency services in their duties.
As a key part of the nighttime economy, taxis have historically been identified in a minority of cases as a way children can be at risk of sexual exploitation, both as a potential way for perpetrators to meet their victims, as well as a means of trafficking victims to different locations and introducing them to other perpetrators.
Many cases of group-based child sexual exploitation have highlighted links with taxis. In her 2014 report, Professor Jay said the role of taxi drivers was a ‘common thread’ in child sexual exploitation cases across England and noted that their involvement was evident from an early stage in Rotherham
[footnote 205]. The same concerns have been highlighted in independent reports into child sexual exploitation cases across the country including Telford, Oldham and Newcastle, and repeated to this audit.
Taxi licences are issued by local authorities who are required to make sure that taxis and private hire vehicle services are safe and accessible for all passengers. Proper safeguards also protects drivers. The Department for Transport sets the statutory guidance local authorities must have regard to when issuing taxi licences
[footnote 206]. The Department for Transport also complements this with best practice guidance which is encouraged but not mandatory
[footnote 207].
Some areas have gone far beyond this guidance in efforts to ensure taxis cannot be used to commit group-based child sexual exploitation again.
Rotherham Borough Council told us that, since the Jay report and Casey inspection, it had transformed its approach to taxi licencing, introducing new, more rigorous approaches that went beyond the statutory and good practice guides and were applied retrospectively to ensure all drivers on their books met the same standard.
In some cases, their good practice improvements had been included in updated statutory guidance. Improvements included:
- Introduction of taxi cameras which must be capable of capturing every passenger and driver from the chest upwards.
- Setting out a clear definition of a ‘fit and proper person’.
- Proper training and a knowledge test on 3-year refresh.
- A 100% pass mark requirement for the safeguarding test.
- Using novel legal approaches to ensure those accused of serious sexual offences have their licences repealed if the evidence available meets the civil threshold.
Rotherham council applied the new standards retrospectively and revoked a number of licences as a result. Their hope was that the higher standards they applied could be mandated nationally.
However, several areas we visited which were imposing rigorous standards were left frustrated by seeing taxi drivers freely operating in their areas having been licensed by other authorities who were perceived to operate less rigorous processes.
This is allowed to happen as, under existing legislation, taxi drivers do not need to apply to the local authority area in which they live or work to obtain a license. Taxi drivers may operate in areas well beyond the area in which a licence has been issued.
In 2023, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, expressed concerns that a high proportion of taxis operating across Greater Manchester were licensed outside the area and were undermining public safety. He was reported to have said that other authorities’ checks were not as stringent. In 2025, he launched a campaign ‘Backing our taxis: Local. Licensed. Trusted’
[footnote 208] with aims to put a stop to ‘out of area’ licensing amid figures which GMCA said showed that more than 11% of England’s private hire vehicles are licensed by a single local authority, up from below 0.5% less than a decade ago.
A BBC news report in on 2 October 2024
[footnote 209] said, based on figures obtained by the GMB Union, that the same single local authority had issued 8,563 new taxi licences in the first five months of the year, over 30 times more than all of its neighbouring authorities over the same period; and that up to 96% of the taxi driver licences issued by that local authority in in the 2023-24 financial year were for drivers who lived elsewhere.
The local authority was reported to have said that they did not actively encourage applications from drivers outside the city, and that existing legislation required that if an application is submitted and requirements are met, then the application must be granted, adding that it supported further standardisation but that government legislation would be required to introduce any changes.
Given the extent of the reporting on the role taxis can play in child sexual exploitation, it is unacceptable that local areas are unable to oversee and account for the taxis on their streets. A lack of stringency means that drivers who are unscrupulous can apply to a lax neighbouring borough. The Department for Transport should close these loopholes urgently.