CRB checks keep Guernsey taxi drivers off the roads


Delays in a new system for checking the backgrounds of Guernsey's taxi drivers have left six of them off the roads since New Year's Eve.

Geoffrey Savident, president of the Taxi Owners Federation, said a delay with Criminal Records Bureau checks in the UK had left drivers out of work.

He said issuing temporary licences in the meantime had been ruled out.

Mr Savident said: "It's frustrating where you've got drivers who want to work but just can't."

The checks can take up to 80 days to process and Mr Savident said drivers were only informed of the new requirement for applying for a licence at the start of November.

Public Service Licences, needed to operate any vehicle that carries members of the public, are issued in four-year or one-year blocks and expire at the end of calendar years.

He said the affected drivers had missed out on one of the most lucrative nights of the year and were still unable to work.

Mr Savident said: "The buck is passed all the time... it's the Guernseyman sold up the river we're all coming under UK legislation."

Taxi operators are licensed by the Environment Department and must abide by the conditions of their road service licence.

No-one from the Environment Department has yet been available to comment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe- ... y-16409080

This council must be using snail mail ... as a trade rep in Sefton, at our last liaison meeting with the council we were informed that the CRB check can now be completed online.... and if everything is clear... returned within 48 hours......

as a trade rep in Sefton

It is when you agree with me that I get worried

I will be doing a lot better than that soon....

I will be doing a lot better than that soon....

It often depends on wether this is the first crb or just a renewal renewals are quick because all they have to do is check the last 3 years for anything new first apps can take months !

Yes, once you get to a certain age sleep becomes preferable to sex or self-abuse

It's not down to if it's the first or their 5th one, all checks come off the National PNC computer, it's the paper trial they create which causes the problem.

The Guernsey drivers ought to contact their local Police HQ and speak to the CRB officer, (every Police HQ has one) and tell them to get a spurt on. They'll find out their CRB form is sat in a filing tray waiting to be processed.

The new system...... the council fills in your details on the Web... cannot be sent if not correct..... then sends to the CRB.. who than contact via the Web ........ your completed CRB check is returned via the Web.... Two days