Taxi Driver Online

More from Wiltshire

There are a few broadly related threads this could be attached to, mainly about driver shortages etc, but here's a new thread anyway


Concern school only taxi licences are 'open to abuse'

https://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/2 ... pen-abuse/

Wiltshire Council has considered the possibility of school only taxi licences to tackle the increasing demand for SEND transport in the county.

Around 1,800 SEND students in Wiltshire require daily transportation to education placements, and 30 other local authorities in England have opted to offer school only licences in an attempt to keep up with similar numbers.

However, Wiltshire Council’s taxi licensing team have expressed concern that the restricted licence would be “open to abuse” and “very difficult to enforce”.

According to a report presented to the licensing committee on Monday, March 17, demand for SEND drivers is rising at 11 per cent per year.

It states: “It is clear vehicle and driver capacity cannot be met from taxis licensed in Wiltshire alone given we only license 854 vehicles.

“A large percentage of licensed vehicles currently undertake school contracts and there are currently 730 SEND contracts managed by the Passenger Transport Unit.

“This can lead to issues with a lack of provision in our towns at certain times of the day and the team have received feedback from the public to this effect.”

The council must provide transport to SEND pupils if they live more than a set distance from their nearest suitable school, as well as ensure that drivers of licensed vehicles are adequately checked and trained.

In 2024, the licensing committee request that the taxi licensing team investigate the possibility of school only taxi licences.

Local authorities that have adopted this practice include Swansea, Reading Borough Council, Blaby District Council, Swindon, East Riding and Eastleigh.

The report presented to councillors on Monday read: “The taxi licensing team are concerned that a school only licence would be open to abuse and could be seen as a shortcut to a full private hire licence if any of the current requirements and tests were dropped or a reduced fee offered.

“The licence would be very difficult to enforce, it would be very difficult to ensure school only licensed drivers did not undertake standard private hire work.

“The team has two enforcement officers to cover the whole of Wiltshire and as such could not effectively enforce a school only licence regime.”

It added: “Whilst a lower licence fee could be offered, the applicant would still have to undergo all the same tests and licensing requirements, incurring the same level of costs and more importantly the same timeframe for being licensed.

“The real cause of drivers not applying needs to be established, is it the cost of a licence or the time it takes to become licensed, the level of payments for school contracts or some another reason?”

Although it is acknowledged that some drivers with no interest of working outside the school shifts would see the appeal of a school only licence, the taxi licensing team concluded that they did not see the overall benefit in it.

They said: “The team believe that if an applicant has to undertake all the existing licensing checks and requirements they would more likely want to license as a standard private hire driver which provides them with far more opportunity to earn rather than a slightly cheaper school only licence that restricts them to school contract work.”

The team suggested that the demand for such a licence should be established before implementing it or incurring the additional costs associated with procuring new badges.

Therefore, it was proposed that a consultation be undertaken with the trade and school transport operators to establish if there is sufficient interest in a school only licence.