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Cabbies 'must take English exam'
Taxi drivers in Liverpool will have to pass an English recognition exam before they are allowed to drive.
Liverpool City Council's licensing committee is introducing the compulsory test following complaints about drivers not understanding the language.

But the committee has deferred plans to scrap the traditional street knowledge test for private hire drivers.

Under this assessment aspiring drivers are tested on their knowledge of road locations in the city.

The "oral recognition assessment" test will be given to new applicants seeking to become licensed Hackney carriage drivers.

Language test

It is in three sections - listening, verbal and numerical questions.

They must then take the street knowledge challenge.

The new procedure will come into effect from 22 March.

A report approved by the licensing committee said the use of a language test had been adopted by several authorities in the UK, including Birmingham City Council.

A spokesman for Liverpool City Council said the reason for the introduction of the new test was due to the increase in applications from people from eastern European countries.

This represents one in the eye for large fleet owners, who were hoping to ease the shortage of drivers, by employing polish drivers. They will have to speak at least a little bit of English first. Now you would think that doing the knowledge, would be an English test in its self. But the knowledge in Liverpool, is not that much of a challenge. I think that may be, the English test is just a bit of smoke. What they really want (they being the people who pull the strings) is to do away with the knowledge completely. This is one step in reaching there objective. Any thing to make it easier to get their cabs , double shifted . streetcars .

But not London.

So presumably the plans didn't apply to hack drivers

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

The sat nav argument , was the reason for the private hire not doing the street knowledge test . As all the criteria for private hire and hackney drivers are the same . Lots of hacks have sat nav . Who knows what they really want. We will have to wait and see . streetcars

Strange that, the place that needs the language test the most , has not got it .I wonder why? . streetcars .

Strange that, the place that needs the language test the most , has not got it .I wonder why? . streetcars .[/quote]


Errm? Because we're governed by people who run buses?

Isn't it sad when operators want standards lowered?

If drivers earnt good money, then there would be a queue of them wanting to join the trade.

That applies to London as much as Liverpool.

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IDFIMH

our ph (ex me) do the same knowledge.
and the same other tests.
a couple of years ago one op wanted to do away with ph knolwege.
wanted to use sat nav instead.
pillock.

Its nice to see Liverpool are at last putting together at least one element of quality control but does anyone know if this is the first independent step Liverpool has ever taken in respect of introducing Quality control of Drivers apart from mandatory CRB checks?

Regards

JD

hear hear!

Daily Post (Liverpool)

February 18, 2006, Saturday

HEADLINE: English tests for city taxi drivers: Complaints prompt calls for basic language exam

BYLINE: LARRY NEILD City Editor

LIVERPOOL taxi drivers could face a compulsory basic English test because of growing concerns about a rise in the number of East Europeans applying for jobs without having learned the language.

The city council's licensing department has received complaints from passengers saying drivers could not communicate in simple English. Officials say it has led to confusion and mistakes about destinations.

Councillors will decide next week whether to sanction the test for all new applicants for drivers' permits. A multiple choice test will include simple questions such as "Can you help carry my luggage?" The choice of answers are: "Sometimes", "in the morning", "on Fridays" and "yes, of course".

Licensing manager Damien Edwards has told councillors that, if approved, the new English test will have to be taken by all applicants, not just non-British.

He said: "There have been more applications from people, mainly from the newer EU countries. They are legally and fully entitled to apply, but we have to have a mechanism to ensure a basic recognition of English language."

Applicants for hackney licences will also have to take the "Knowledge test" to determine whether they are familiar with the streets and main buildings of Liverpool. Criminal Records Bureau and health checks are already standard for applicants.

In his report to next week's licensing committee, Mr Edwards says: "Recently it has become evident by complaints received from the hirers of hackney carriages and information submitted by some members of the taxi trade that a number of licensed drivers have displayed a lack of basic English language comprehension.

"Some drivers have misunderstood directions and been unable to understand basic requests to proceed to destinations." This language confusion has happened even though drivers have completed the Knowledge test

At the moment there is no legal requirement for a taxi driver to be able to understand or react to verbal requests.

Last night, Transport and General Workers Union taxi drivers' official Tommy McIntyre said: "We do not mind people from the newer EU member countries coming here to work as taxi or bus drivers, but I agree with the council about needing to resolve the problem of language comprehension."

Meanwhile, the committee is also being asked to consider dropping the requirement for private hire drivers to sit the Knowledge test. The wider use of satellite navigation systems makes it easier to plan routes, says the report.

Instead, private hire drivers would have a tougher induction test that would take account of customer care, disability awareness and route planning.

This change is expected to be opposed by hackney drivers' representatives. The TGWU's Mr McIntyre said: "We do not agree to the withdrawal of the Knowledge test. It is essential that all taxi drivers are aware of the area's geography."

The new language test for city taxi drivers

YOUR passenger is asked if the taxi booking is for every day of the week:

Answer: a) Goodbye, b) No Mondays only, c) Yesterday, d ) In the morning.

Your passenger asks if you could help carry their luggage.

Answer: a) In the morning. b) On Friday. c) Sometimes. d) Yes of course.

Passenger asks if you allow guide dogs in the taxi.

Answer: a) in the boot b) next month. c) thank you. d) Yes, of course.

You ask your passengers which door they want to be picked up from at 8.30pm.

Answer: a) Thank You. b) In The Morning. c) Second door at the front. d) on time.
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Daily Post (Liverpool)

February 18, 2006, Saturday

HEADLINE: LIVERPOOL DAILY POST: Taxi drivers' first need is to communicate

IT IS not so long ago that our taxi drivers were being exhorted to learn a foreign language, the better to provide a welcome for the influx of foreign visitors eagerly anticipated in the run-up to 2008.

So it is an ironic twist that finds Liverpool's licensing committee preparing to vote on a proposed compulsory test to ensure that the city's hackney cab drivers have a basic grasp of English.

The reason, of course, is the influx of Eastern European workers in recent years, some of whom inevitably turn to the taxi trade for jobs.

It is a problem familiar to other cities around the world with a reputation as cultural melting pots. New Yorkers in particular have had to face the problem of drivers with whom it can prove almost impossible to communicate, even in the city's iconic Yellow Cabs.

No reasonable person would begrudge men and women seeking to make a new home here from Eastern Europe the right to decent jobs, but there are some lines of work in which communication is an essential skill, and taxi driving is clearly one of them.

Drivers may not need to be familiar with the finer points of English grammar, but anyone hailing a cab in a British city would clearly expect to be able to make basic instructions understood to the driver.

It is for this reason that the introduction of this test, in which prospective drivers have to demonstrate a grasp of some fairly rudimentary practical phrases, is an entirely sensible one.

Indeed, it will be to the long-term benefit of the drivers themselves. Once they have secured an adequate understanding of English, their earning opportunities will grow through their ability to respond efficiently to the wishes of their fares.

Perhaps a more worrying initiative on the table next week is the proposal to drop the "Knowledge" test of drivers' awareness of the streets of the city, in favour of satellite navigation. On all the anecdotal evidence, "satnavs" are a great invention - when they work. But most of us would rather put our faith in the street wisdom of the seasoned cabbie.
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I thought the T&G were always moaning about the possibility of more taxis on the road.

But, wait a minute, they'll be driving the current fleet and so lining their pockets, so that's all right then.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Do as I say, not as I do.

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IDFIMH