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Brakes slammed on foreign taxi drivers
Feb 10 2007
By Ross Smith, The Journal
Moves to attract migrant workers to the North-East were thrown into doubt last night when it emerged some councillors are refusing to trust criminal records checks from eastern Europe.
Taxi firm bosses in North Tyneside have been told drivers from Poland and the Czech Republic will not be given licences because of uncertainty over records from their home countries.
However, several other North-East councils are willing to licence foreign drivers - and North Tyneside will allow Polish people to work in other jobs based on a British Criminal Records Bureau check. North Tyneside Taxi Organisation secretary Alan Fidler said that if the position on drivers is upheld, it "must call into question" use of migrant labour in other sectors.
It comes after plans were announced for a regional migration strategy to encourage more workers from overseas, including eastern Europe, to settle in the North-East.
North Tyneside's stance emerged when an applicant - identified only as Mr K - supplied information from the central criminal records register of the Polish ministry of justice.
As he had not been resident in the UK for more than five years, this is needed to make enhanced CRB disclosure valid.
However, because of uncertainty about the foreign documentation, he was told a council committee "could not be satisfied you were a fit and proper person to hold such a licence".
A North Tyneside Council spokeswoman said: "Our licensing officers are currently researching the position regarding CRB checks in all EU countries to ensure that they are compatible with British CRB checks.
"As soon as that research is completed we will formulate a sensible policy which can be applied consistently and ensures taxi users have the appropriate level of protection."
The authority insisted cases are dealt with "on their merits" in the meantime.
Applications for other jobs are based purely on CRB checks, in accordance with Government guidance, the council said.
But Mr Fidler said: "If the council's policy is reasonable for taxi drivers, it must call into question the employment of hundreds and thousands of foreign nationals in schools, care homes, etc..."
Immigration lawyer Liaquat Latif said: "It seems a little bit of hypocrisy to accept new European Union countries but not to accept their laws and procedures."
Other North-East authorities do not issue a blanket ban on drivers. Newcastle, Chester-le-Street, Sunderland and Blyth Valley councils each said they would look at foreign records without issuing an automatic `no'.
Gateshead said it is "actively considering the issue" and taking legal advice, but has had no applications yet.
An Alnwick Council spokeswoman said: "It is a problem and does need to be rectified."
Cross border security concerns rise
A series of crises in recent months have raised concerns over how security checks have been handled on cross-border crime.
In December 2005, then Home Secretary Charles Clarke warned the Prime Minister that hundreds of foreign prisoners had been freed from UK jails without the required investigation into whether they should be deported.
Five of the criminals convicted of serious offences went on to commit new crimes after their release, including violence and drugs offences. In May 2006, Mr Clarke's replacement as Home Secretary, John Reid, revealed the numbers released included 186 serious offenders, many of whom are still at large.
Last month, a senior Home Office civil servant was suspended over a failure to provide police with details of crimes committed by Britons in Europe.
The records that had not been logged included that of Dale Miller, who was jailed for 16 years in 2002 for the manslaughter of gangland rival Freddie Knights, shot on his mother's doorstep in Longbenton in 2000.
Better by degrees
Migrant workers capable of earning more than the North-East's average wage are needed if the region is to hit its economic targets, a new report said yesterday.
Researchers at the North-East Regional Information Partnership (Nerip) were asked to assess the skills gap that needs to be filled by foreign workers.
It comes in the wake of talks on a strategy for attracting more migrant labour to the North-East, after the regional economic strategy set a target of shifting GVA - a measure of wealth - from 80% to 90% of the national average by 2016.
The Nerip report says: "The RES target will be more easily achieved if migrants who come into the region are generating higher levels of GVA - which probably implies that they will need to earn higher salaries than the regional average."
However, research shows workers from outside the EU are more likely to work in higher level jobs. At present, employers are largely using migrants from new EU countries in low-skilled work.
Skills needed to hit the 90% target, according to the report, include degree-level qualifications in energy, chemicals, financial and business services, health and social care and public services sectors.
Also needed would be A-level equivalent qualifications in sectors including hotels and catering.
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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin
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