Dodgy pedicab drivers are to be forced off London’s streets under a new licensing system in a bill to be included in the King’s Speech.
The crackdown on the three-wheeled vehicles is expected to be a stand-alone bill in Rishi Sunak’s new legislative plan, to be unveiled on Tuesday.
Nickie Aiken, Conservative MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, told The Standard: “It is so important that we regulate pedicabs to make them safe.
“At the moment we don’t know if the vehicles are safe to be on the road, if the drivers are safe to take passengers, there is no regulation of fares, which means that time and time again tourists and visitors to London are being ripped off, often to the tune of hundreds of pounds.”
Ms Aiken has been campaigning for four years for pedicabs to be licensed.
“Now that we’ve secured the Bill, it’s important to get it on the statute books as soon as possible,” she added.
“I hope that with the support of the government and the opposition we can have it up and running by next summer.”
Transport for London has agreed to administer the new licensing scheme, she explained, which she hoped would reduce some of the noise pollution caused by pedicabs.
“Too many drivers are blasting music from their pedicabs day and night, causing huge disruption to local people,” she pointed out.
“The West End is a great place to go out, but pedicabs have blighted the area for too long. With an official licensing scheme, anti-social pedicabs should be consigned to history.”
The new legislation is expected to be based on two private members bills that Ms Aiken has previously tried to get through Parliament.
Her proposals would see pedicabs licensed on a similar basis to other private hire vehicles in the capital, including setting standards for operators, drivers and the three-wheeled vehicles, checking that drivers have the right to work in the UK and allowing licensed operators to provide a service to passengers who can be assured of their safety.
Susan Hall, Tory candidate for Mayor of London, stressed: “We simply cannot let this industry continue as the Wild West. Londoners and visitors to our city deserve much better”.
The pedicab clampdown appeared in the last Queen’s Speech as part of the proposed Transport Bill, but it fell by the wayside after Boris Johnson resigned in June and his government ended.
King Charles, who has returned from a four-day state visit to Kenya, will make his first speech as monarch on Tuesday to set out the government’s legislative programme.
Mr Sunaku hopes the raft of proposed new laws will boost his chances of winning next year’s general election against the odds, with polls currently showing Labour with a 15-20 point lead.
The King’s Speech will include a bill to phase out some leaseholds in England and Wales, in a bid to crack down on expensive charges imposed on homeowners.
The bill is expected to ban leaseholds for new houses, but not for new flats.
A tenancy reform bill promises to deliver a long-promised ban on ‘no fault’ evictions in England, but this may take many months to come in order to avoid overwhelming the courts.
The legislation will also require the North Sea Transition Authority to invite applications for new oil and gas production licences on an annual basis, a move the government says is aimed at “securing our country’s prosperity” but which critics say dilutes its net-zero approach.
Mr Sunak told the Cabinet last week that the speech would focus on measures to “grow the economy, strengthen society and keep people safe”.
He stressed that the State Opening of Parliament would be “a big occasion, not least because it’s the first King’s Speech in about 70 years”.
He also highlighted the Illegal Immigration Act to try to stop more “small boats” crossing the Channel, the Online Safety Act and the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act as key new laws in the last parliament.