Taxi Driver Online

Special Report: Bolton licensing crackdown to keep taxi passengers safe

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/16 ... gers-safe/

LAST year Bolton Council suspended 34 taxi licences, revoked 19, and refused to renew eight. Local democracy reporter NICK STATHAM finds out why and what measures are being taken to tighten up private hire and hackney carriage licensing.

THERE are currently more than 1,800 licensed taxi drivers in Bolton and while the majority of journeys are completed safely and professionally, there are also cases of overcharging, sexually inappropriate behaviour and violence from those behind the wheel.

When these are reported the question of whether the driver remains “a fit and proper person” to hold either a private hire or hackney carriage licence goes before Bolton Council’s licensing and environmental regulation committee — or the traffic offences sub-committee for less serious matters.

The hearings are held behind closed doors, but the minutes which later appear on the council’s website reveal how far some drivers stray from the standards expected of them.

Earlier this month a taxi driver was stripped of his private hire licence after licensing chiefs heard he had threatened a member of the public with a screwdriver. He also had an undeclared conviction for common assault.

Back in July another driver had his licence revoked after taking a lone female passenger home “via a long route through dark streets” during which he asked her personal questions the left her feeling “scared, uncomfortable and panicked”. He later tried to contact the woman via her Instagram account.

And in June Perez Sajid was suspended for five weeks by council licensing chiefs after being found guilty of overcharging a disabled passenger at Bolton Magistrates Court.

Figures provided by Bolton Council make clear the measures the licensing committee is taking to ensure people can be confident of their own safety when they get into a taxi or private hire vehicle.

Last year the authority suspended 34, revoked 19, and refused to renew eight licences. It also issued one warning. The number of licensed drivers fluctuates throughout the year, but the current number is 1,850, which gives an indication of the proportion who are breaching the trust placed in them by passengers.

And of the 212 applications for new licences it refused 12 – just under six per cent of those received.

When taxi drivers first apply for a private hire or hackney carriage licence a check is made to see if they have a criminal record through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

This is repeated when they are renewed every 12 months and police also inform licensing chiefs of relevant intelligence throughout the year.

But Cllr Nick Peel, the council’s environmental services chief who sits on the licensing panel, said he was happy that the authority had a “fair but robust system”.

He added: “In any profession there’s always going to be a minority of bad eggs, but the main thing is taxi drivers are in a very, very privileged position of trust.

“That’s why it’s so important that the drivers are “fit and proper” to carry out what I would describe as a unique privilege.

“Where else would you get a stranger alone with a vulnerable person, or a child? It would be hard to find another example so, for that reason, we don’t tolerate anything that looks like inappropriate behaviour.”

Cllr Peel added that council figures show there are no issues with the “overwhelming majority” of drivers but licensing chiefs were willing to take strong action where required.

He said: “We will refuse applications if standards are not met and we will also revoke or suspend licences of drivers found to be breaking the law or breaching licensing requirements.

"The safety of the public is of paramount importance to us and this is at the heart of our licensing duties.”

Taxi drivers staged a protest this year over what they described as “unfair” licensing rulings, which took cabbies off the road for minor or historical offences.

But Cllr Peel said the panel looked at patterns and frequencies of offences, as well as their seriousness when reaching a decision.

He said: “We would like to reassure the public we will continue to take action and if they have concerns about drivers they can report these to us.

“Similarly if a driver is unhappy with any decision they have the right of appeal to both Bolton Magistrates and Crown Courts.”

So 2% of licensed drivers either were suspended, revoked or not renewed.

To me that's not a stat that jumps at me, especially when you take into consideration (a point missed by the article) that more drivers have their licenses suspended, revoked or not renewed down to medical reasons rather than dodgy/iffy reasons.

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IDFIMH

And nor are they stating that the other 98% are simply doing their job to the level the council themselves have set ....seems that the actions of the 2% dictates further crackdowns on the decent 98%.........no matter how hard they crackdown theres always going to be that 2% that create an issue through poor practice, a human resources problem percentage which will likely be a damned sight higher than 2% within bolton councils own employee base, but hey ho they'll not admit to that or crack down on it

But is there any real evidence in the article that the council are actual 'cracking down' - which implies doing something different - or is it all just the normal licensing process that's been going on for years?

So maybe Bolton's just a bit worse than the average in terms of drivers, perhaps the press there are just reporting things more than usually happens locally, or maybe it's just a statistical blip of bad apples which will average out over time - after all, the number of reported cases is relatively small, so could thus fluctuate quite wildly from year to year.

Of course, there maybe a backlash from Rotherham, Rochdale etc, and there's things like the Institute of Licensing's new stricter guidance to consider, and it looks like Bolton have been re-examining historical offences. But looking at the article above in isolation doesn't give the impression that there's been any real change in procedure or approach - so if a driver was threatening a member of the public with a screwdriver and hadn't declared a conviction for assault, would he really have been treated any differently a few years ago?

I also get the right hump that every Tom Dick or Harry seems to take ownership on our trade and on our personal details?

Do we get lists like this for teachers, for doctors, for councillors?

Do we f***.

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IDFIMH

Not so sure things are really that different for those various groups. Their regulation is more a national thing, so not so much in the way of a local angle, at least as far as having different rules and regulations are concerned.

And suspect there are more dodgy doctor/teacher episodes reported *nationally* than cab drivers, the likes of Warboys being an obvious exception.

And suspect reading a similar website to TDO but for doctors, teachers and councillors would throw up a lot more cases, but normally they are simply of *local* interest, so only anoraks of those different professions would be aware of them.

I still get the hump though.

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IDFIMH

Bolton private hire drivers' requests to Bolton Council

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/17 ... n-council/


A Rossendale-plated taxi operating in Bradford (Image: Bolton News)

Bolton Private Hire Association would like to comment regarding the Private Hire article on October 12 headline: Bolton licensing crackdown to keep the public safe.

Over the last two years our Private Hire Association has made numerous formal requests during our meetings with Cllr Nick Peel and other licensing employees of Bolton Council to make it compulsory for all Private Hire vehicles to have CCTV.

This if introduced would ensure safety for both passengers and drivers. Drivers get attacked, verbally and racially abused on a regular basis and CCTV in the vehicles would act as a deterrent and if needed evidence for drivers and passengers.

Our vehicles are attacked regularly by youngsters around Bolton who regularly throw stones at taxis, putting the lives of the drivers and the passengers at risk and yet Bolton Council talks about public safety with very little commitment.

We have also asked the council to introduce pricing/fare meters which calculate fares in all Private Hire vehicles to avoid passenger driver confusion and over charging which leads to complaints, arguments all this can be easily avoided with the introduction of these meters. We have been denied this request by Bolton Council.

The requests we make to Bolton Council are usually about public and driver safety but are dealt with at a very slow pace which we are constantly reminding them of.

So we question the council's true commitments to public safety.

Our CCTV request is just one example of a request made approximately two years ago and if implemented there would be fewer drivers going in front of the licensing committee.

There are 1,850 Private Hire drivers in Bolton. Of those, 61 appeared in front of the committee which equates to less than five per cent out. Of those, some drivers appealed and had their decisions overturned and badges reinstated.

The majority of the drivers do a fantastic job and at times go over and beyond the call of duty, helping the elderly, assisting the disabled without getting any recognition from the council or the media.

We in the past have striked because of the council's unfair policies and the slow progress in making those changes has been our complaint from the outset and we are happy for somebody from The Bolton News to sit in on our meetings to follow progress on concerns raised by our association on issues relating to public and driver safety so that you may understand our frustrations.

BPHA

A Rossendale-plated taxi operating in Bradford (Image: Bolton News)

Unclear what relevance a Rossendale-plated cab operating in Bradford is to the piece, but not unlike the Echo using that photo of saloon HCs in Cardiff to illustrate just about every piece about HCs and PH in Liverpool