Remember when it seemed there was a piece about Liverpool drivers taking drugs every couple of weeks or so?
Presumably the testing introduced in 2019 has had the desired effect.
On the other hand, if only 13% of drivers have been randomly tested, then extrapolating the 12 revocations to the whole lot would mean closer to 100 revocations in total
(Although it's not entirely clear how the 13% were selected - they might have been high risk, thus extrapolating to the entirety of drivers wouldn't work
)Anyway, a lot of this sound quite lenient in a way, although procedures are supposedly being tightened up. An interesting enough article, though.
(And pedants might wonder why they've used a photo of a Delta PHV since, although no doubt a lot of them work in the city, they'll more likely be plated by Sefton, and this piece is specifically about City of Liverpool-badged drivers.)
Liverpool taxi drivers banned after taking cocaine and cannabis
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... r-34631599
Liverpool Council has almost 5,000 registered taxi and private hire drivers across the city
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A dozen Liverpool taxi and private hire drivers have been stripped of their licences after cocaine and cannabis use was identified by city officials. For the past seven years, Liverpool Council has implemented a drug testing policy among its 4,800 registered drivers.
Data from those tests has uncovered how a “small minority” of these drivers are using illegal substances on a “recreational basis or as habitual users.” During that time, only 13% of drivers – 630 – have been tested.
Out of those, 12 drivers have been revoked with immediate effect for testing non-negative without any appeal. Now the city council wants to tighten up its processes around drug testing amid an increase in referrals regarding licensed motorists.
In 2019, the city approved the introduction of a new drug testing policy in connection with the granting of licences to those who may have drug-related offences and the detection of currently licensed drivers who may be using illegal drugs. The random testing of licensed drivers has now been taking place once a month since implementation.
During the past 18 months there has been an increase in drug test referrals from officials when reviewing new applicants with drug-related offences recorded on their DBS certificates. Since 2023, 21 new applicants have undertaken a drug test as a condition of being granted a licence, and 17 drivers have been sent for a random drug test following complaints from the public regarding suspected drug use.
A report going before the general licensing committee next week said the city council views such drug use as “completely incompatible with being fit and proper persons to be entrusted with the safe carriage of the general public as well as the dangers presented to other road users by such licensed drivers.”
In the case of any applicant for a new licence who has any drug related conviction that is deemed live or within the last decade, officials will have the discretion to require them to take a drug test and provide a negative urine sample.
Those seeking to renew their licence who hold a drug-related conviction or caution within the last three years would also be required to undertake a test.
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If the initial screening test is non-negative, then that sample will be required to be sent to a UKAS accredited analytical laboratory for a confirmatory test which will determine exactly what substance was taken and in what quantities.
During this time the person who was tested may have any licence to drive taxi and private hire vehicles revoked with immediate effect.
Any driver who passes a random drugs test shall then be exempted from any further random testing for a period of three months. In addition to the proposed random drugs testing procedure, an intelligence-led approach is also under consideration.
This would be based upon the officers being satisfied that credible reasons exist to suspect that a licensed private hire or taxi driver may be using illegal drugs. Any driver who has had their licence revoked may apply for its reinstatement upon completion of a test, if they are deemed fit and proper to get back behind the wheel.
