The committee heard more than eight out of 10 Leeds taxi drivers come from Pakistan.

Of course, before Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxfordshire and all the cases of licensed drivers being involved in CSE - if you'd said this to a council you'd have been thrown out on your ear for being racist.

[ had we got Ken in it would have happened.

He was in and it didn't happen.

I think the proof will be in what the stricter tests are I am not convinced that these measures taken will improve things after all many of the people who get involved don't do so until after they get into our trade and find themselves in a position to become an exploiter. Is there a test for self control ?

Non-UK taxi drivers face stricter ‘fit and proper person’ tests in Leeds


Prospective taxi drivers in Leeds are to face stricter checks after “safeguarding concerns” were raised about the current process for handing out licences.

Applicants from outside the UK will have to provide more information before they pass the ‘fit and proper person’ test.

It follows the inquiries into the Rotherham grooming scandal, which found that taxis had been used to ferry children around for exploitation.

A report to Leeds City Council’s licensing committee said there was a “need to proceed quickly due to safeguarding concerns”.

The committee heard more than eight out of 10 Leeds taxi drivers come from Pakistan.

At the moment, decisions are often made on the basis of ‘certificates of good character’ from the applicant’s country of origin, which can be unreliable.

The report said: “Supporting references are generally vague with none or little meaningful information relevant to the responsibilities of the role applied for. It is often the case that the authors of such references have a personal, community or business interest in supplying a favourable reference.”

Under the new proposals, non-UK applicants may be asked to supply character references from a UK professional and a statutory declaration from a solicitor supporting the application as well as information on their criminal record in other countries.

Coun Brian Selby said: “If we don’t have a strong policy and something goes wrong, all hell will be let loose upon us.”

Des Broster, head of taxi licensing, said: “The purpose of this is to say public safety is paramount.”


Read more: http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/n ... z3rvl2YjqP

Stable door and horse spring to mind??

Absolutely right, this country is screwed in more ways than one. With many LA's having maxed giving out licenses it is as above.......too late.

They've licensed drivers with a letter of good conduct which, can be bought online or from the local bribe taker. They've created a monster now they can't tame it.

nothings impossible or so they tell me just a little difficult the problem is now with non Asian drivers being a minority the only people wanting to come into the trade are Asian drivers but standards of vetting can definitely be improved to weed out some of the less honest drivers