Taxi Driver Online

Nothing particularly new here, but it's a while since there's been an article on mandatory CCTV.

But suspect this article is a bit misleading. It makes it sound like it's about CCTV across the whole county of Gloucestershire, but then it reads as if it's just about Tewkesbury Borough Council. Presumably it's up to each licensing council, so the latter is probably the more accurate view


Mandatory CCTV plans for taxis and private hire vehicles in Gloucestershire

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/n ... te-7494593

Taxi drivers across the county could soon be required to have surveillance cameras for their safety and that of their passengers

There are plans to make it mandatory for Gloucestershire taxis to have CCTVs. Taxi drivers across the county could soon be required to have surveillance cameras for their safety and that of their passengers.

The Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards issued in 2020 state that the Government expects its recommendations to be implemented by local councils unless there is a compelling local reason not to. One of the recommendations yet to be considered by Tewkesbury Borough Council is to explore whether the installation of CCTV in vehicles would have either a positive or an adverse net effect on the safety of taxi and private hire vehicle users, including children or vulnerable adults.

The Department for Transport (DfT) believes that CCTV can provide additional deterrence to prevent the potential risk to public safety and has an investigative value if there is an incident. The DfT's view is that “the use of CCTV can provide a safer environment for the benefit of taxi/private hire vehicle passengers and drivers.”

However, the standards also note that the imposition of a blanket requirement to attach CCTV as a condition to a licence is likely to give rise to concerns about the proportionality of the approach and will require a strong justification and must be kept under regular review. The report recognises that such a policy could impact on the privacy of the passenger and the driver.

And mandatory CCTV will have cost implications to the vehicle licence holder and introduce a responsibility to the council to be the data controller for all data captured. Tewkesbury Borough Council’s licensing subcommittee is due to vote on August 25 on whether the consultation goes ahead. If it goes ahead, the consultation will be open for eight weeks from September 5 to October 30, 2022.

(yawn) 5 minutes of my life I will never recover

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