88 PRIVATEHIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY
IN THE NEWS
EAST HANTS DC TELLS CABBIES TO “SMARTEN UP YOUR ACT”
Cabbies are to be banned from wearing sports shirts and flip flops, and could lose their jobs if they don’t smartenup.Womendriv- ers wearing high heels could also be banned. The new dress code is set to be introduced by East Hampshire District Council in a bid to improve the image of taxi drivers. The council is carrying out a review of the taxi system in the district, which covers Horn- dean,
Rowlands
Castle, Clanfield and Petersfield. Cabbies have to stick to stringent new rules, including a dress code, understanding
the
area’s geography and have comfortable seats in their cars. Unacceptable clothes include track suits,
football tops, ripped jeans, combat uniform, short skirts and base- ball caps. If they fail to adhere to the rules, drivers could receive penalty points. More than 12 penalty points in a year would lead to a council hear- ing to decide whether the person is fit to drive a taxi. Taxi drivers in the area yesterday welcomed the dress code, but were unhappy with a proposed increase in licence fees. Stephen Amey, owner of Paddycars Ltd, based in Petersfield, told the Portsmouth News: “I don’t have a problem with the dress code. If it means a better service to the public, it’s going to be a good thing. “Whowants tobepicked up by a taxi driver in
shorts and a T-shirt? It will raise the standard of taxi driving and get rid of those who aren’t proper taxi drivers.” But Mr Amey was unhappy about the pro- posed three per cent increase in
licence
charges, from £173 to £178.20. The council’s report says demand for taxi services has fallen because of the reces- sion, with a 50 per cent drop in business in Petersfield alone. He said: “It means we earn even less money. We are asking for the licence charges not to be increased.” The taxi review was set to be discussed at a meeting last month, but councillors on the licensing committee are keeping tight-lipped until they vote.
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CHECKS TO BE MADE ON FOREIGN CABBIES IN MID SUSSEX
Immigrant taxi drivers in Mid Sussex could soon have criminal convictions from their home country checked for the first time. Under
licensing system all taxi drivers must be Criminal Bureau
Record (CRB)
checked. However, this only covers criminal offences committed in the UK so a driver applying for a taxi licence could have committed a serious offen ce in another country and the council would have no knowl- edge of it. Mid Sussex District Council’s
licensing
department says it is looking at introducing extra checks from the person’s
previous
country of residence. Mike Revely, a taxi driv- er in Mid Sussex believes
changes
should be made as soon as possible, and told the Sussex News: “It is outrageous that
the curren t
not more checks are completed. The current system is not protect- ing the publ ic from possi ble rogue taxi drivers with criminal records. It could be that they have no crim- inal record but they could also be sex offenders and we don’t know. “I have spoken to other colleagues and they think it is terrible too. There should be the same amount of history checks on every taxi driver. “The council should have the knowledge of any criminal offences if they work so closely to the public.” The council says it does its best to pro- tect the public and all vehic les and drivers are subject to a num- ber of licensing tests. However, the council admits
tha t there
could be improve- ments. Alec Lee, MSDC Taxi Licensing
Offic er,
said: “The council is aware that for appli- cants who have been a UK resident for just a short time, there are limitations to the effec- tiveness of the CRB check. To counter this, the council is looking to
intro duce extra
checks. “If the new measures are approved, any applicants who have lived abroad for a sig- nificant length of time will be required to obtain a certificate of good behaviour from their previous country of residence. “If any member of the public is aware of a driver who has convic- tions outside of the UK they should contact us immediately and we will investigate.” The extra checks will need to be approved by
the council’s
licensing committe e before they come into forc e. The council’ s next meeting is sched- uled for July.
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