My Lords, I should first disclose my interests as the owner of a wheelchair-accessible London taxi and a past CEO of the manufacturer of London taxis. I thank the co-signers of my two amendments, the noble Baronesses, Lady Brinton and Lady Grey-Thompson; they have both encouraged me, as has my noble…
My Lords, I am grateful for the words used by the noble Lord, Lord Hendy. To correct one of his points, the reason that my taxi is worth only £1,000 despite its very low mileage is because of the emissions standards in London, not because it is useless outside London. It would be useful in a market …
I rather thought that the noble Lord would ask me that question, since I only met him at 11.30 am this morning to discuss the same issue. His determination to make taxis fully accessible is admirable. However, since taxis are intrinsically part of a service of both taxi and private hire vehicles, an…
My Lords, I rise on this St Piran’s Day to carry forward the millstone of ensuring accessibility just a bit, knowing that so many disabled people still struggle with accessibility every day, even 30 years after we legislated to make a change. I am indebted to the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor of Steve…
On taxi accessibility, is the Minister arguing that the local requirements of disabled people might be different in one area from those in another? Surely, that is completely wrong, because the whole purpose of this is to organise transport—that a disabled person in London should be able to travel t…
My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Monckton, on securing this debate. I also congratulate our new colleagues on their maiden speeches, which were both entertaining and informative. I am sure we will hear more from the other maiden speakers as the debate goes on.
I do not have persona…
My Lords, in this first group of amendments, I am delighted that the Government have acceded to the amendment about accessible electric vehicle charging points that the noble Lord, Lord Borwick, just spoke to. That is really good news.
Of the other three amendments that we are thinking about, two c…
My Lords, first, I declare my interests as a taxi proprietor and driver of a wheelchair-accessible taxi. The reason why it is wheelchair-accessible is that I introduced that feature into the manufacture of taxis when I ran that business. I also introduced bus ramps to make low-floor buses accessible…
I assume that the activities the noble Lord is referring to regarding zoos are high-welfare activities. As I said, we are looking at how best to bring legislation forward. For any activity to be exempt, there would need to be compelling, sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the activity was high …