Liverpool City Council to introduce stricter checks on taxi drivers from overseasCOUNCIL chiefs in Liverpool are to introduce stricter checks on foreign taxi drivers’ backgrounds.
City licensing officials are to ask new applicants for a certificate from their country’s embassy or consulate because they are currently unable to fully check the criminal records of drivers from abroad.
While all applicants must have had a UK or EU driving licence and undergone a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check, there is currently no way to check convictions overseas.
The new system will require drivers from abroad to provide a letter from their consulate or embassy confirming good conduct.
Plans were revealed following a Freedom of Information request from Jim Bradley, a taxi driver in the city for more than 20 years.
Mr Bradley said: “I contacted the council as I was concerned about the fairness of the checking process.
“Our city is cosmopolitan and that is a fantastic thing, but for the safety of the public we need to be sure the backgrounds of everyone are checked to the same high standard.”
A Liverpool City Council spokesman said: “All applicants for a taxi driver’s licence have to have had a DVLA or EEC licence for a minimum of 12 months and all applicants are CRB checked.
“We do not have the power to carry out CRB style checks in foreign countries.
“However we are introducing a system shortly where applicants who come from abroad will be asked to provide a certificate of good conduct from their consulate or embassy.”
source: Liverpool Echo
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... z2IeBcryV4
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