Consultation: CCTV in hackney carriage and private hire vehicles

How we propose CCTV would be used in taxis

Consultation closed: 5pm on Tuesday 10 March 2020

The CCTV system will provide a safer environment for the benefit of hackney carriage and private hire vehicle drivers and passengers by: 

  • deterring and preventing the occurrence of anti-social behavior or crime
  • assisting the police and licensing officers in investigating incidents of crime; by capturing actual events, investigators would be able to gather evidence for use in prosecutions or disprove false allegations
  • safeguarding vulnerable users - there have been a number of high-profile cases, nationally, of licensed drivers abusing their passengers’ trust, including serious cases of child sexual exploitation (CSE), including County Lines whereby vulnerable people are used to supply drugs in more rural areas via large criminal networks in major cities

During 2019, there were around 120 taxi-related complaints made to us, ranging from dangerous driving through to inappropriate behavior, where CCTV may have helped establish exactly what actually happened.

There have also been reports of taxi drivers being victims of hate crime.

CCTV requirements and usage

The use of cameras would comply with data protection laws and CCTV codes of practice.

All licensed vehicles fitted with cameras would be required to have clear signage so that users are made aware of the cameras. The position of cameras will ensure both driver and passenger(s) are recorded.

The recordings would be picture only, with sound recordings only made if activated using a button by either the driver or passengers.

There would be no live viewing of the recordings rather they would be securely stored within the vehicle, the recordings would also be encrypted so that only licensing officers or the police could view them. Neither drivers nor vehicle operators would have access.

We will be the data controller, recordings will not be able to be viewed by anyone other than our staff or the police.

Any downloads of footage that are requested would only cover the period when the incident was reported to have happened. Footage would only be kept for a month unless being used for evidence and will be automatically deleted.

We would check cameras as part of the annual vehicle test, to ensure they are functioning as expected.