Taxi Driver Online

Almost one in six taxi drivers licensed in Derby has a criminal conviction

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/d ... rs-1822097

The city council currently licenses 1,273 drivers

More than 200 taxi drivers licensed in Derby have a criminal conviction, Derbyshire Live can reveal.

A Freedom of Information request has found Derby City Council allow 215 drivers with previous convictions to hold either a private hire or hackney carriage licence which is needed to operate a taxi in the city.

According to the request response, the city council currently licenses 1,273 cabbies, which means that almost one in six of them hold a criminal conviction.

Out of the 215, 161 private hire drivers have a conviction against their name compared to 54 hackney carriage drivers.

The Derbyshire Live Freedom of Information request found that, in the last three years, 22 drivers have lost their licence down to wrong-doing, criminal convictions or motoring offences.

Out of the 22 who lost their licence, eight lost theirs in the year following April 2017 and two private hire drivers had previous complaints lodged about them before their licence was revoked.

The new figures come after the council introduced a new penalty points system for drivers back in July 2017.

Criminal offences by taxi drivers accrue points depending on the crime and how long ago it was committed.

A meeting of the council’s licensing committee on July 5 added new offences to the penalty points list. These include urinating in public and dishonesty offences.

A driver can have up to 12 penalty points before their licence is revoked. Drivers can also earn points by failing to provide a new address and having a dirty vehicle.

Serious convictions such as murder, arson, and sexual offences always mean that a driver will not be able to apply for a licence.

But convictions such as violent disorder and theft from a vehicle do not rule a driver out of getting a licence depending on when the offence was committed.

Derbyshire Live previous reported how a Derby taxi driver, who was licensed by Erewash Borough Council, had three previous complaints made about him before being involved in a street brawl.

The driver tried to appeal the decision but eventually lost his licence.

Councillor Mick Barker, chair of the city council’s licensing committee, told Derbyshire Live he believed that council had “weeded out” those who have committed serious or sexual offences.

He said: “I was critical of the penalty points system to begin with but now I believe that we have one of the most robust and safe systems in the country.

“We have made sure that high standards have been ensured by drivers licensed by the council but I do believe the problem isn’t this council but Government legislation.

“Any driver can come to Derby City Council, be refused a licence and then go to either Gedling or Erewash to apply for a licence with those council’s having no idea that they had been refused a licence. It’s current legislation that allows drivers to exploit these loopholes.

"If we have that many drivers licensed in Derby who hold a criminal conviction, I would hate to think how many drivers outside the city have them and what they have done."

Bit of a red herring that, surely. Aren't drivers required to disclose if they've been refused a licence? Even if not, or if the driver fails to disclose it, surely the DBS check will show up the same record as Derby would be aware of?

So the problem is presumably that these other councils are applying a lesser standard of fit and proper than Derby, but the licensing chair seems to be portraying it as the fault of the driver.



He sounds surprised at how many drivers with criminal records his committee oversees in Derby?

Lets not forget that many might have convictions for silly things over 40 years ago. Convictions aren't classed as spent when Taxi Driving yet, if your a teacher and you have a conviction that conviction will be classed as spent after the time stated.

Correct.

I suspect that if any of those 200 odd had serious recent convictions they wouldn't be in our trade.

As I have said many times before, people, even taxi drivers, deserve a second chance if their convictions where historical and not of a sexual nature.

_________________
IDFIMH

Mine were back when I was 18, I'm 52 now. The Council still remind me to this day that I've got a criminal record even though they were minor offences. They keep reminding me but, I'm good for Social Services work with children.