What would you say has been the most influential case in this area since the fourth edition of Button on Taxis: Licensing Law and Practice published?

It is difficult to single out one particular case. There has been a lot of activity in the Senior Courts since 2017 and of those decisions, I would say these are the most important, if not necessarily influential.

The High Court and Court of Appeal have provided considerably more certainty on what is meant by plying for hire in Reading Borough Council v Ali [2019] EWHC 200 (Admin), [2019] 1 WLR 2635 Admin Crt and R (on the application of United Trade Action Group Ltd) v Transport for London [2022] EWCA Civ 1026  [2023] 1 W.L.R. 367 CA. These decisions affect England and Wales and London and are of considerable importance bearing in mind the increase in private hire activity by Uber and other app-based private hire operators.

The power of the Equality Act 2010 to make the use of hackney carriage and private hire vehicles easier, and reduce discrimination, for disabled passengers was the subject of the decision in McNutt v TfL 2019 [2019] LLR 332 Admin Crt.

Finally, the conflicting decisions (based on different legislation: Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998 and Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 197) in R (app UTAG) v Transport for London [2022] LLR 313 Admin Crt and driver DELTA Merseyside Ltd v Uber Britannia Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 802 have led to different approaches to contracts for private hire services inside and outside London. This may yet be resolved when the Delta case is considered by the Supreme Court later this year.

Are there any emerging trends you think practitioners in this area should be aware of?

Licence shopping allied to remote activity (often referred to as cross-border hiring) is a trend which will only increase. Licensees will naturally gravitate to authorities which have lower standards or lower fees. As long as the government fails to produce statutory national standards for licences, together with national enforcement powers, this will continue. The proposed reorganisation of local government in England will reduce the number of licensing authorities, but it will not remove this problem.

What do you anticipate might be a big challenge in taxi law over the next few years?

Ideally the biggest challenge will be new and completely revised legislation. The failure of successive governments to take any account of the Law Commission report into Taxi and Private Hire Services published in 2013 is little short of disgraceful. With hackney carriage legislation almost 200 years old, and private hire legislation half a century old, how much longer can we wait for new law?

What is The Button Plan?

This is a proposal which will provide national standards, costs and enforcement powers in relation to private hire licences without the need for new legislation. It is explained in the Author's Note in the new edition of the book. I must explain that I did not name it, the private hire industry have christened it and are extremely supportive of the proposal. It does require significant cooperation between local authorities but it is a practical, pragmatic and achievable solution to the problem of licence shopping and cross-border activity.