House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Drivers: Covid-19

Thursday 3 December 2020 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

Ministerial Questions addressed the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on taxi and private hire vehicle drivers.
The Government acknowledged the challenges faced by the industry and mentioned several support measures available.
An online support finder tool was highlighted to assist drivers in difficulty.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Daniel Zeichner Lab Cambridge

Employment Transport

Context

The MP noted the significant impact of the pandemic on this workforce, emphasizing that they are one of the largest employment groups in the transport sector. He highlighted specific issues such as finance deals for electric cabs being returned and vehicles being laid up.

Question

What assessment has been made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on taxi and private hire vehicle drivers? With over 350,000 licensed taxi and private hire drivers, this is the biggest employment group in the transport sector. In every constituency, there will be hundreds of drivers laying up their vehicles due to inflexible finance deals for electric cabs.

Answer from Robert Courts

The Government continue to engage with the sector to understand the effects of the covid-19 outbreak. Several support measures are available, such as the self-employment income support scheme. I acknowledge that this is an exceptionally challenging time for the industry and draw attention to an online support finder tool to assist those in difficulty.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide a specific impact assessment or timeline for action.

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Q2 Daniel Zeichner Lab Cambridge

Employment

Context

The MP highlighted the significant impact of the pandemic on taxi and private hire vehicle drivers, noting that they are one of the largest employment groups in the transport sector. He pointed out issues such as vehicles being laid up due to inflexible finance deals for electric cabs.

Question

What assessment has been made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on taxi and private hire vehicle drivers? In every constituency, there will be hundreds of drivers laying up their vehicles because of inflexible finance deals. What impact assessment have the Government actually done and when are they going to act?