I’d like to thank the Member for his questions, and I’ll begin with that very last point. Yes, it’s our intention to incorporate within national standards enhanced training for all drivers of taxis and private hire vehicles to ensure that there’s consistency across all services. I think one of the great advantages of our proposals is that it will bring a fares regime that is consistent across all services as well, which, in turn, could help deliver on the vision of the south-east Wales and north-east Wales metros with integrated ticketing, and a fare regime that is understood and clear and simple to appreciate.

The Member raised the very important issue of cross-border consistency, and this is, of course, something that is at the forefront of my considerations representing a constituency, like himself, that is right on the Wales-England border. I outlined in my statement how it’s my intention to ensure that providers, to work across local authority borders, have an easier regime to understand and to operate to, but that there should also be appropriate arrangements in place to ensure that licensing officers have enforcement powers to deal with vehicles and drivers licensed in different areas.

Now, we can’t wait any longer for a response by the UK Government to the Law Commission’s report. It was published, as the Member outlined, in May 2014, with 84 recommendations, and, despite the convention that the UK Government formally responds to the Law Commission’s reports within a 12-month period, there has yet to be a response. Now, I appreciate that, within 12 months of May 2014, Britain was within a period of a general election. Notwithstanding that, I do believe that there has been sufficient time since the 2015 election to respond to the Law Commission’s report. In the absence of a response, I believe that it is incumbent upon us as Welsh Ministers to ensure that the rights of passengers and the rights of workers in the taxi and private hire vehicle trade are key considerations in our work moving forward. Therefore, I think we should be quite proud that we are at the forefront in the UK of considering new regimes.

That said, it would be my hope that the UK Government, in responding to the Law Commission’s report, will also appreciate the recommendations that we are adopting, so that, on a cross-border nature, if the UK Government considers favourably those recommendations made by the Law Commission, then we will have, as I outlined in my statement, a consistent regime and enforcement system that spans not just local authority borders within Wales, but also national borders between England and Wales, and potentially between Scotland and England.

The Member also raised the question of the need to ensure that, during the consultation, anybody who wishes to respond has an opportunity to offer opinion and evidence concerning the best way forward as to whether we have a single or two-tier system. I outlined my firm belief that a single-tier system is most suitable for Wales, and the reason that the two-tier system was recommended for retention by the Law Commission, I think, is in no small part whatsoever down to the fact that the London taxi market operates in a very, very different way to that which exists across the rest of the UK. And the Law Commission’s report was therefore heavily swayed by the evidence and the submissions made by the London taxi market. I do believe that the system that operates in Wales is distinctly different to that which operates in London, and therefore it’s my belief that a single-tier system would be best for Wales. Notwithstanding that, we will be considering all responses to the consultation that will begin next month and last three months.