Taxi Driver Online

East Lancs councils could share taxi licence refusals

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/n ... -refusals/

COUNCILS could share information about taxi drivers who have had their licence revoked or applications refused.

Currently when a driver who does not disclose information about a previous revocation or refusal of a licence there is often no way for a licensing authority to find out about it.

This means that vital information about a driver’s past behaviour is missed and a driver might be granted a licence in a new area despite having a licence revoked elsewhere.

In response to this, the Local Government Association has commissioned the development of a national register of all revoked and refused private hire and hackney carriage drivers licences.

This will allow licensing authorities to record their refusals and revocations and check new applicants against the register.

And now Blackburn with Darwen Council is preparing to amend its taxi driver licensing policy to allow for use of the national register.

Historic data will be migrated onto the register and details will be stored for up to 25 years.

All the drivers who have been refused or revoked in the past will need to be written to individually and informed that their details will be entered onto the register.

In a report to go before a licensing committee meeting, principal licensing officer Donna Riding said: “The simple objective is to ensure that all authorities are able to make properly informed decisions on whether an applicant is fit and proper, in the knowledge that another authority has reached a negative view on the same applicant.

“Whenever an authority receives an application for a licence they must check at an early stage if that driver is on the register.

“Every decision must be made on its own merits – a previous refusal or revocation cannot fetter the licensing authority’s decision by relying on the previous decision.

“The purpose of the register is not to mean that a person who has been refused a licence on one occasion should always be refused.

“However it will always be relevant for an authority to consider the previous revocation or refusal and reasons for it.

“The register will be hosted by the National Anti-Fraud Network (NAFN) through a dedicated secure portal.

“An officer will be designated to input and retrieve information from the register.”

Suppose there will be a slew of similar articles in coming weeks and months, all saying much the same thing, so probably not worth posting them unless there's a particular angle or quirk, or whatever.

Of course, what *would* be newsworthy would be if councillors voted not to rubber-stamp it.

Or that any council didn't join the party in the first place, but then that would probably not be reported unless some sort of official process took place.

I mean, will there be any obligation for councillors to consider adopting the scheme, or could it just be ignored by officials and thus not subject to democratic scrutiny?

What happens if the same council revoked a driver license several years ago, and in time reissued him a new one?

Could he only work in that area and no others?

A simple register is not good enough, especially when you go back 25 years.

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IDFIMH

This one's about a council adopting the new driver database *and* safeguarding, for anyone who wants to read it

Taxi changes which will force banned drivers to admit their past

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/tees ... s-15456577

Under current rules Redcar and Cleveland Council only knows of any previous ban if the driver admits it

Surprise, surprise, Redcar and Cleveland councillors have adopted the database proposal.

Wonder if any council/councillor anywhere will raise any objections?

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/tees ... s-15486675