ROUND THE COUNCILS WILTSHIRE:
PRESTON: COUNCIL SIGNS UP TO NR3 REGISTER
Preston has become the latest authority to sign up to the National Register of Taxi and Private Hire Licence Revocations and Refusals (NR3). This means drivers who have been refused a licence in
another area will no longer be able to slip through the net. The purpose of the register is to prevent drivers from submit- ting licence appli- cations while failing to declare historical licence revocations
CARLISLE: PENALTY POINTS FOR NOT FOLLOWING POLICY
Taxi drivers could be given penalty points if they fail to follow a new city council pol- icy brought in to protect passenger safety in Carlisle. According to the News and Star, the new enforcement policy has resulted
in more than 20 offences being re- ported about taxi drivers. The policy was ad- opted in April and within the policy the issuing of penalty points was intro- duced. So far 24 minor offences have
been reported and are held on record. Cllr Jo Ellis-Williams, chair of the council’s licensing committee, said: “It records mis- demeanours helps
and determine
whether the driver is a fit and proper per- son.”
or application re- fusals in other parts of the country. According to Blog Preston, it will make it easier for the council to check a driver’s history – even when it has not been declared.
Anyone
TOUGHER CHECKS FOR TAXI DRIVERS charged
with exploitation, slavery or financial abuse will be ban- ned from becoming a taxi driver in Wilt- shire as tougher criminal background checks
for taxi
drivers were agreed. According to the Wiltshire Times, new guidelines have been set up to stop any- one who has a previous conviction being less likely to be given a taxi licence. Previous guidelines meant that criminals who had committed
sexual offences or drugs crimes could still get a licence several years after their conviction. However the new tougher guidelines mean that anyone who has committed a sexual offence will never be able to gain a licence as well as anyone on the Sexual Offend- ers register. People with drugs convictions, having a weapon or dis- crimination will be barred from getting a taxi licence for
seven years, up from three years. The new fit and proper guidelines were agreed by Wiltshire Council’s licensing committee last month. The local authority is also set to require all new drivers to sign up to a system that means an addi- tional DBS back- ground check can be carried out on them at any time. At the moment all drivers must update their DBS checks every three years.
STOCKTON: BID TO RELAX RULES REJECTED
Efforts to relax rules on how much expe- rience cab drivers need to get a licence in Stockton have been rejected. Stockton Council requires motorists to hold a full driving licence for at least three
years to
become a private hire driver or hack- ney carriage driver. But according to the Northern
Stephenson wanted to see the rules relaxed – with fears drivers were opting to get cheaper licences from other councils such as Wolverhampton. Station Cars, Sky- line, Teesside Cars Ltd and Tees Valley Cabs Ltd lodged the request
for Echo,
councillors were asked to consider reducing this to 12 months at Stockton Town Hall
last
month after con- cerns from four Teesside firms about a lack of drivers coming through. Other authorities in the Tees Valley only require drivers to hold a licence for a year to drive a cab. Stockton is more stringent. Councillor Norma
10 the
three-year edict to be eased. Their let- ter stated it was causing problems in recruiting
new
drivers – and was a reason why opera- tors were getting their licences else- where. It added: “Making entry into the taxi trade easier will not only help relieve the financial pressures but will also encour- age them to obtain licences from Stock- ton.” Councillor Dixon
Ken disagreed
with the move. “Experience of driv- ing comes with driving,” he said. “Three years is ade- quate.” The chamber heard data hadn’t been collected to gauge whether the one- year policy had any impact on accidents or the number of licences
revoked
elsewhere in the Tees Valley. The council
set the
three-year rule in 2014. Mmmm… We’d be interested to see under which author- ity this council set the three-year rule, as the LGMPA only makes provision – under
section
51(1)(b) for private hire drivers and sec- tion 59(1)(b) for hackney carriage drivers – for holding a DVLA licence for one year. – Ed.
OCTOBER 2019
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