Tougher rules brought in for Telford taxi drivers
Taxi drivers in Telford will face more regular criminal record checks and have to declare new offences sooner under updated council rules.
Telford & Wrekin’s licensing committee approved an updated policy requiring drivers and operators to inform the council of arrests, charges, convictions or fixed penalties within 48 hours, replacing previous rules which gave them a week.
The new measures, coming into force next month, also call for annual disclosure and barring service checks for taxi and private hire operators and six-monthly checks for drivers. Previous rules only required them every three years.
Deputy council leader Richard Overton told the committee the updated policy was based on standards published by the Department for Transport last summer.
He said: “While the focus of the standards is on protecting children and vulnerable adults, the positive consequence will be that all passengers will benefit from the recommendations.”
A report by public protection manager Anita Hunt said: “The council has identified 31 key areas of the standards that councils are required to action or make improvements in their current taxi and private hire policies.
“Telford & Wrekin Council has already implemented 20 of those areas within its current policies.”
The updated policy addressed the remaining areas, she added.
Additional work
Attached to Ms Hunt’s report as an appendix, the new policy said: “All drivers must complete an enhanced DBS check upon initial application and at the same time sign up to the DBS Update service.
“Further DBS checks will be carried out by the council every six months for each driver licence issued.”
Ms Hunt’s report said the rule change “will be additional work for the licensing team, but will be managed within existing resources”.
The new policy also changed “timeframes in which licence holders are required to notify the council of arrest and release, charge and conviction of offences” and added “immigration penalties or offences” to the list of reasons for barring a licence application or revoking an existing one, she added.
The previous rules barred anyone with records for sex, indecency or exploitation offences and any crime resulting in death from holding a licence.
Councillor Overton – whose cabinet portfolio includes enforcement and community safety – said the authority had “continued to lobby the government when it comes to licensing as it is the best way to ensure our residents are safe when using taxis and private hire vehicles”.
Under current rules, taxis picking up or dropping off passengers in Telford and Wrekin do not have to be licensed specifically by the authority and are often licensed by other councils who may apply different standards.
Officers have told councillors they would like the government to impose national standards.
Councillor Overton said: “Although we continue to lobby around cross-border hiring, the government hasn’t made any changes at present.”
