New London minicab drivers will be allowed to work pending full Criminal Records Bureau clearance.

Following intensive lobbying by the London minicab trade, regulations placed before Parliament mean that prospective private hire drivers in the capital will be able to work without first having passed an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check.

Subject to the following conditions being met, drivers will be able to work pending the outcome of the CRB process, under a three month temporary permit, until their application is accepted or rejected:
1) A satisfactory medical examination.
2) An enhanced CRB check applied for.
3) The driver licence application forms have been filled in.
4) Confirmation of the above and the associated paperwork is sent to the Public Carriage Office with the appropriate payment.

The new regulations are due to become law in three weeks time. Thus all new drivers who have met the above conditions will become temporary permit holders on 18 December and can therefore work legitimately.  These transitional arrangements will stay in place until 2006 by which time it is hoped that application procedures will have improved significantly.

While the regulations have obviously received a warm welcome from the London minicab trade, others are understandably unimpressed.  One critic said: "This is just to appease minicab offices who want to recruit temporary drivers for the festive season.  By the time they've been checked by the CRB they may well have moved on elsewhere, or worse."

Comment
Given that the CRB checking system was thrust on the rest of the UK without any notice last year, you have to wonder why London hasn't been able to cope despite having 18 months to get it right.

However, could this be yet more evidence that driving a licensed PH in London isn't as attractive a proposition as we are led to believe? Perhaps the CRB check fiasco is just a smoke screen covering the fact that some people simply don't want to drive a fully licensed London PH, especially when they have to be registered and made accountable for their actions.

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