IN THE NEWS
EAST HERTS COUNCIL JOINS GROWING LIST OF AUTHORITIES ALARMED AT AXING OF ENHANCED CRB FOR LICENCE APPLICANTS
Recently PHTM was contacted by chief reporter Dan Peters of the Hertfordshire Mer- cury, asking if we would be interested to see some of the press coverage he has devot- ed in recent issues of his publication to the growing alarm within East Herts Council that the Government is stopping them from running detailed crimi- nal record checks on hackney carriage and private hire licence applicants. We replied that we would be more than pleased to run some of his material, and to work with him in future to further highlight this growing problem. We also advised Mr Peters that the National Pri- vate Hire Association has been lobbying continuously to push for a Home Office review of the current Government stance that enhanced CRB checks on drivers are currently only required of those applicants who state that they will be carrying children or vulnerable adults; and that without exception, every industry stake- holder group in the UK has taken a similar stance publicly. Dan Peters first wrote
about this issue in the Hertfordshire Mercury in September, stating that East Herts Council had granted licences to people convicted of drink-driving, driving with a mobile phone, driving without insur- ance, grievous bodily harm, assault, burglary, possession of an offen- sive weapon, threat- ening behaviour, crimi- nal damage, fraud, shoplifting, obtaining property by deception, theft of a vehicle and disorderly conduct. He then reported that a review of how taxi licences are granted by East Herts Council was ordered by leader Cllr Tony Jackson. He said that the Mercury’s front page story by Mr Peters, which had revealed the council had granted licences to people with a history of offences, raised seri- ous questions and he would be seeking reas- surance from officers. He admitted being unaware of the shock- ing secret pasts of East Herts drivers, buried in a report to the council’s licensing committee, until he read Mr Peters’ story. Cllr Jackson said the review would look at the policies of neigh- bouring councils such
as Broxbourne, which does not give licences to people with criminal offences, and Govern- ment plans to relax the CRB checks designed to protect passengers from dangerous taxi drivers. Mr Peters and the Mer- cury persisted with their investigation, and revealed that one East Herts driver had an attempted abduction on his record. Another applicant was identi- fied as a potential paedophile; East Herts Council officers blocked the licence application based on information recorded by the police that came to light after an enhanced CRB check. The guidance issued last year by the CRB ruled that council offi- cers would actually commit a criminal offence if they re- quested an enhanced check on a driver unless they regularly worked with children or vulnerable adults. But the NPHA has always maintained the same position on this matter, and has shout- ed it as loudly as possible: How does any applicant for a hackney carriage or private hire driver licence – especially if
they are just entering the trade – have any idea whether they will be regularly working with children or vulner- able adults?? Furthermore, how can any licensing officer when dealing with such application, know with any certainty that the applicant is telling the truth?! It has been the case in several licensing areas that applicants have delib- erately lied (or omitted the truth) at the appli- cation stage, so that enhanced CRB checks would not be conduct- ed, thereby enabling them to be granted a licence – in some cases for no other pur- pose than to commit sex-related crimes. Unless an applicant knows well in advance that the only work he/she will be doing is exclusively for school or Social Services con- tracts, nobody could know for certain whether in the course of everyday taxi or PHV journeys they would be transporting children or vulnerable adults. The odds are that 99.9 per cent would do at some point. So why discontinue the en- hanced CRB?
If it were merely as a cost-cutting exercise,
the majority of drivers we have spoken to are willing – no, more than that, they strongly wish – for the enhanced CRB to become the univer- sally required check again, across the coun- try, even if it does cost an extra few quid. Returning to Dan Peters’ reports from Hertfordshire, the min- utes of an East Herts licensing committee earlier this year con- firmed that licensing officers in that area were lobbying for a return to the enhanced CRB, as “the en- hanced check gave valuable information about applicants on some occasions which helped to keep the pub- lic safe.” Amen to that! The Local Government Group, a cross-party organisation that aims to speak with one voice on behalf of councils in the area, is also campaign- ing for the re- instatement of en- hanced CRB checks. And according to Mr Peters, written evidence submitted to the House of Commons Select Committee by the umbrella Herts and Beds Taxi Licensing Offi- cers’ Group read: “We are alarmed about the Government’s propos- als to limit access to
enhanced disclosures which contain full details of an individual’s crimi- nal background.” Criticising the current system, which has “many shortcomings”, the submission contin- ued: “...Each licensing authority interprets [‘fit and proper’] in its own way. This can result, for example, in drivers in one area being granted a licence despite hav- ing been refused a licence in another area as a result of their crim- inal convictions.” The officers also called for a national register of drivers and list of offences that successful applicants should not have com- mitted: “[This] has the potential for improving public safety and con- fidence through the implementation of uni- form licence con- ditions and approach- es.”
The Association will be passing this report, amongst volumes of other material at their request, to the Law Commission for con- sideration during their ongoing review and consultation surround- ing a comprehensive restructuring of all taxi and private hire legis- lation. Watch this space – always.
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PHTM NOVEMBER 2011
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