Taxi Driver Online

New test for cabbies but some drivers not licensed in Peterborough

Published on Thursday 19 July 2012 21:04

Cab drivers who are not licensed in Peterborough have been working in the city thanks to a loop hole in the law.

Private hire vehicles and Hackney carriages are supposed to be licensed by Peterborough City Council, which includes strict background checks for criminal records.

But the council has seen some drivers get licenses in Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC) and then working in Peterborough.

At the council’s licensing committee tonight (Thursday), Ian Robinson, regulatory officer, said: “We have had a lot of problems with Huntingdonshire licensed drivers working here in Peterborough. There’s a loop hole in the law which allows them to do that.

“We’ve done a lot of work with Huntingdonshire which has helped.”

He added that two Huntingdonshire licensed drivers applied for Peterborough licenses in the last week alone.

Mr Robinson was speaking at the licensing committee this evening (Thursday) which discussed a new test to check drivers’ fitness to practice.

A day long course will be run by Peterborough Regional College which will have to be passed before drivers are given permission to work.

It will include lessons on producing receipts and giving change; the Highway Code; road signs; licensing conditions; and a reading and writing test.

The price will increase by £95 meaning it will cost £244 to become a cab driver in Peterborough. Resits will cost £25.

Cllr Mohammed Jamil, who sits on the committee, raised concerns that if people failed the test they could just go to one of the neighbouring local authorities.

Mr Robinson said: “You are right. If you can’t pass our reading and driving test they do go to Huntingdon. The difference with this new course is they have the support of the college to get help to pass.”

But he added that the city council is working with neighbouring authorities.

The council has also increased the age a car can be used as a taxi while HDC has increased the price of a licence, two factors which has helped encourage drivers back to Peterborough.

The committee unanimously approved the plans which were also backed by Peterborough Hackney Drivers Federation and the Peterborough Private Hire Driver Association.

Source; http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news ... -1-4076589

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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Don't worry Mr Robinson, once the Law Commission have finished it won't be a loop-hole in the law anymore.

The new legislation will allow any licensed vehicle to work anywhere in England and Wales on a PH system.

Then I'll be coming down to your neck-of-the-woods all the way from Brum, which of course I could do now.

One weekend in Peterborough, the next in Manchester, the following weekend in Durham and after that a weekend in Aberystwyth or Bath.

And you'll be able to follow me on Twitter and Facebook too!!

Somehow, I think that scenario might suit our German member Jochen Lembke, so Jochem, why don't you just get a hackney licence in Gedling and work PH in Brighton, just to pi$$ off the licensing officer in Brighton?

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Brummie Cabbie.

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GELDING??

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Grandad,

you are a wag

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Mis-type; thanks for pointing it out.

I've now amended the original post.

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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I thought that you had proposed a new punishment for having the wrong license.

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Grandad,

I knew it was a horse, but didn't know it was a castrated one.

Ouch!

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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You'll love it in Peterborough Brum 5 mile fares for £3 drivers spend most of the night sat in the office listening to the Albanian drivers bragging about how many people they have murdered back in albania or hanging about outside Hotels & Nightclubs trying to pinch other peoples fares

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Dark ages, f***ing dark ages.

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IDFIMH

Ah, but in which language?

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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So now they just turn up, a few boxes are ticked and they're through.

Marvellous.

Perhaps what Mr Robinson is referring to may well be that colleges are able to and better placed to provide ESOL courses, thus helping the drivers to gain the language they require to pass the course

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

So 'best placed' to grease the barons' cheap labour conveyor belt, you mean?

And do these ESOL courses cover the basics like using a full stop at the end of each sentence?

Or using the word 'and' to start a sentence, which I seem to recall someone on here was complaining about a few months ago?

No that's not what I meant at all, people have to learn to speak English if it's not their 1st language before they can integrate



No, but they can be so easily missed out don't you think



A terrible sin, back to school you go

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Ah, I do apologise, I thought the issue was about making it as easy as possible for people to become cab drivers - and thus further lowering earnings - rather than creating a cultural melting pot.