PE1961 : Make it a specific offence to assault, threaten or abuse a private hire or taxi driver while at work
Petition Summary
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to expand the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021 to include private hire and taxi drivers by:
- creating a specific criminal offence of assaulting, threatening or abusing private hire or taxi drivers while they are engaged in private hire or taxi work; and
- considering such offences as aggravated when the offence is committed whilst the driver is enforcing a licensing or operational condition.
Petitioner: Edward Grice on behalf of the Scottish Private Hire Association (SPHA)
Status: Under consideration
Date published: 11 August 2022
Click here for the full petition
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee Consideration
SPICe Briefing (129.7KB, pdf) (130KB, pdf) posted 01 September 2022
Committee Meetings
07 December 2022: The Committee agreed to write to Police Scotland, the Scottish Taxi Federation and Unite Scotland.
Official Report of Meeting 07 December 2022
31 May 2023: The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government.
Official Report of Meeting 31 May 2023
20 March 2024: The Committee agreed to close the petition, under Rule 15.7 of Standing Orders.
Official Report of Meeting 20 March 2024
Written Submissions
PE1961/A: Scottish Government submission of 8 September 2022 (151.1KB, pdf) (151KB, pdf) posted 10 October 2022
PE1961/B: Unite submission of 10 January 2023 (168.5KB, pdf) (168KB, pdf) posted 11 January 2023
PE1961/C: Police Scotland submission of 13 January 2023 (155.2KB, pdf) (155KB, pdf) posted 23 January 2023
PE1961/D: Petitioner submission of 2 March 2023 (96KB, pdf) (96KB, pdf) posted 30 March 2023
PE1961/E: Minister for Victims and Community Safety submission of 28 June 2023 (107KB, pdf) (107KB, pdf) posted 28 June 2023