charlie care to commentENGLISH language tests could be introduced for prospective taxi drivers.
Fears were raised safeguarding awareness training for taxi drivers in Blackburn with Darwen could have fallen on deaf ears due to the language barrier.
That was the view of Cllr Roy Davies, Lib Dem member for Sudell, who voiced concerns many taxi drivers working in the borough may not have properly understood the training.
Licensing officers have been working with the safeguarding team to deliver the training to the majority of the borough's taxi drivers.
But Cllr Davies expressed concern some drivers’ English was not up to scratch, meaning they would not understand the training.
He said: “As far as the training everyone has to go through – are we 100 per cent certain the drivers do actually understand in terms of the language?
“They could just be sat there nodding and not actually understand the course itself.
“When we have drivers attending the committee, quite a few bring someone to speak on their behalf because they just don’t understand.
“I am worried that some of the drivers don’t understand the training and what they are agreeing to.”
Committee chair, Cllr John Wright, said: “Many drivers can’t put themselves across as well as they should do in a committee meeting.If it is the view of the new committee after elections in May that they want to review the criteria drivers have to fulfil and want to introduce a language test in there, you can put that out to consultation.”
Committee members heard taxi drivers had to take a written test in English at the end of the training and that it was not just a case of multiple choice.
The meeting at Blackburn Town Hall was told about 900 drivers had undergone the training and if any of them did not understand it, it was their responsibility to flag it up with officers.
The last training session was held in January and there are just a small number of taxi drivers in the borough yet to complete the course.
Members heard if the stragglers did not complete the training soon they would be in danger of having their licence revoked.
Many areas have introduced safeguarding awareness training after a number of cases of child sexual exploitation involving taxi drivers across the country.
In order to hold a Blackburn with Darwen private hire licence, drivers are expected to have reasonably good communication skills and must have held a full UK/EU driving licence for at least a year.
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