ANNEX (continued)
Letter from the Head of Taxi Policy (Branches),
Department of the Environment, Transport
and the Regions to the Clerk of the Committee
You have had a copy of Dr Tudor's letter of 16 January
to Pauline Gaunt of our Parliamentary Branch. Attached to it
was a letter from the Director, Passenger Services Group of the
Office of the Rail Regulator. This gives an up to date assessment
of the need for our proposed order relating to private hire vehicles
being used for substitute rail services. His conclusion was that
the proposal would now have no effect in practice. (You
will appreciate that circumstances have changed since we started
the procedure for this order.)
We are reviewing this advice with our legal advisers,
and may well feel that we should put the matter to our Ministers
again. That being so, and since we are anxious not to take the
Committee's time unnecessarily, I wonder if you might feel that
our appearance before the Committee might best be postponed.
Obviously we would aim to put a submission to Ministers quickly.
23 January 1998
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