Taxi Driver Online

The whole of point of a training course in my opinion is that it should be relevant to the job in hand, it should also teach you something that you don't already know. The problem with these BTEC courses is that they are an insult to ones intelligence and teach you absolutely nothing that you cannot obtain from a piece of written information. If a person wants to undertake a course in mechanics then that is their choice. Changing a car wheel is not rocket science and neither is it a requirement in law, to drive a taxi.
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March 22, 2008 Saturday

Taxi drivers may need to get qualifications or lose their licence

Salisbury Journal

TAXI drivers in the New Forest could face the same choices as their counterparts in Bournemouth who have been told they must gain qualifications or face losing their jobs.

Three years ago taxi and private hire drivers in Bournemouth were told they must gain a relevant BTEC or NVQ qualification or their licences could be suspended, and New Forest District Council is now considering a similar scheme.

A spokesman for the council said: "We are looking at a voluntary BTEC qualification and a pilot scheme is underway, but it is not compulsory at this stage."

When asked if the scheme could become compulsory he said no decision has yet been regarding future arrangements'.

In Bournemouth 330 of the town's 693 drivers had failed to gain the qualifications needed by the deadline of February 28 and there are fears a similar situation could arise in the towns of the New Forest.

Mick Hunt, chairman of the New Forest Taxi and Private Hire Association said: "I certainly think these courses will be brought in and you will end up in the same situation as in Bournemouth. You will get older drivers with people skills who will just leave and youngsters coming in who have computer skills but not people skills and that is not what people in the New Forest want."

He said several taxi firm owners from the area had already been on a training course as a part of the pilot scheme but that the majority of it was not relevant to the job they do and that the association would like to see a revamped course and a more flexible approach to qualifications.

"If you have older people who have been doing the job for years and are doing it correctly they should have grandfather rights - if they don't do the job correctly then they should go on the course.

"We need courses taken by people from the industry rather than classroom exercises on things like how to change a wheel or how to read a map."

Like 'teaching a grandmother to suck eggs'

Amongst drivers already doing the job in the New Forest the response to the training schemes and qualifications has been mixed.

Mike Howard of Castle Taxi's in Ringwood has been doing the job for 35 years. He said: "These people need to find something better to do. Not one of them has had any experience in the taxi trade and they just make life so difficult."

Another taxi firm owner, who asked not to be named, said: "I think it is like teaching your grandmother to suck eggs. I have been doing this for over 20 years and I don't need some suit telling me how I should run my business.

"I could go along with bringing this in for new drivers but not those who have been doing the job for years."

He said many firms will also struggle to meet the costs involved in paying for the training courses on top of other costs such as fuel, licences and Criminal Records Bureau checks for all drivers.

But Adrian Young, who runs Apollo in Ringwood, has already gained a BTEC and three of his eight drivers have done the same.

He said: "I know everyone else is being negative about it and thinking it is just another cost but, at the end of the day, if you want to improve standards you have got to do it. Your drivers reflect your company and we are driving around members of the public, not nuts and bolts."

If compulsory qualifications are introduced any driver who does not meet requirements and has their licence suspended would have the right to appeal through the magistrates courts, which could prove costly for the council.
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