Taxi Driver Online

In our office it would be a street map and a notice board.

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Grandad,

[quote]A few months ago I became concerned about the welfare of a child of about 15 months old. I reported my concerns to social services and after their intervention and with a court order the child has been removed and placed with foster carers whilst social services work with the parents to see if they can be allowed to have the child returned.
My ex wife and I were foster carers ourselves many years ago and as part of the training process we undertook all sorts of training including looking for signs of abuse. Not all signs are obvious.[quote]

A genuine well done Right now tell us what course did you attend that gave you the pointers to the signs that you saw

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Common sense........is just not that Common.

To become a foster carer back then required attendance at 6 evening training sessions. Child abuse was one of the evening sessions.

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Grandad,

Obviously I am a bit stuffed on that one, so well done. Having said that your situation at the time demanded that type of course, as a taxi driver I do not feel that I have to be subjected to that intensity as the link up is very much a shorter time i.e minutes, as opposed to in your case - living under the same roof.

My thoughts are that the proposed course by the Council/LA will not be on the same thorough lines as it would be for foster caring. I applaud your time back in that day, but I am for all of my faults still of the opinion that this is more about Rotherham (taxi drivers) dragging the rest of us into a tarring all with the same brush situation - leaving me far from happy as to how they are going about making progress, and generally involving our trade.

Also I would ask you to keep in mind a comment that I made earlier on, something on the lines of......... " If we have any bad eggs left - then they will be showing them what people will be looking out for". In my book that will be similar to showing a burglar how not to get caught.

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Common sense........is just not that Common.

Obviously that would be a concern. My own view would be that any training on the subject would be best carried out by a professional in the field. i.e. a social worker who actually carries out this training already rather than someone who just designs a "course" to make money.

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Grandad,

South Tyneside cabbies must attend lessons on sex abuse in wake of Rotherham scandal



COUNCIL bosses have stressed they want to work alongside the taxi trade in South Tyneside after plans were agreed to force cabbies to attend a child sex abuse prevention course as a condition of their licence.


Members of the council’s licensing and regulatory committee have endorsed attendance at the Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) sessions by private hire and Hackney Carriage taxi drivers wanting a licence to work in the borough.

The rule will also apply to anyone handling calls in a taxi office.

The move comes in the wake of the Rotherham child abuse scandal.

The Jay Report into the scandal said more than 1,400 children were abused in the town between 1997 and 2013 and found taxi drivers played a “prominent role” in the abuse. Many of the victims were ferried to their abusers in cabs and some drivers were also found guilty of abuse.

The council says it is eager to work with the trade and other sectors of the business community to raise awareness of CSE and to teach drivers to “spot the signs” of abuse.

But some members of the trade regard the move as a form of “persecution”.

Speaking after the meeting, Hackney Carriage driver Michael Ridley said: “We are taxi drivers, not social workers. Social workers in Rotherham underwent years of studies in their field and yet they were still unable to spot this abuse. A one-day course will not give drivers the expertise to recognise the signs.

“We may have a passenger in our cab for five or ten minutes, how can we make those sort of judgements in that time?

“We as drivers have done nothing wrong, so why are we the ones being persecuted? I think this is wrong.”

Coun Tracey Dixon, the council’s lead member for area management and community safety, said: “We are seeking the support of key members of the business community in tackling the issue of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE). Independent reviews into cases of CSE have concluded that tackling this issue should be ‘everyone’s business’ and the council is committed to taking a proactive stance. Raising awareness in key business sectors – including the taxi trade – is part of our wider, on going approach. We have met with representatives of the trade, including members of the South Tyneside Hackney Carriage Association and a number of private hire operators, who have been supportive of the proposals.

“Taxi drivers have an important role to play as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the community.”

The aims of the training events are to give a greater understanding of CSE, to teach members of the community to ‘spot the signs’ and to advise people how to report any suspicious behaviour so that relevant agencies can build up an intelligence picture.

Drivers will be given seven days notice of attendance at the training sessions and “failure to attend without reasonable cause may prevent renewal of a driver’s licence”.

source: http://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/crim ... -1-7120420

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Looks like they are illegally adding a condition to Hackney Drivers Licenses. That can be done to PH, but update the Bye Laws to rope Taxi Drivers in!

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Chris The Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mc ... re=related

I think it'll be a condition of application

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Last line says "may prevent renewal".

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Chris The Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mc ... re=related

that's what I mean - they are making this course like a medical, or a DSA driving test, or BTEC and suchlike

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

I suggest that adding all three that you quote can ONLY be done by putting them in the BYE LAWS. If not they are conditions.

They can be included on initial application.

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Chris The Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mc ... re=related

Byelaws only apply when the license has been granted though - the council are effectively saying they wont renew a license unless the driver can prove he's attended a course.

I think the judgement they are relying on is Darlington vs. Kaye


DARLINGTON BOROUGH COUNCIL V MALCOLM KAYE (2004)

December 7, 2004 0 comments


[2004] EWHC 2836 (Admin)

The requirement by the local authority that the respondent pass a Driving Standards Agency taxi test before it would consider renewing his hackney carriage licence was not a condition attached to the grant of the licence but a request for information. It was reasonably necessary for the local authority to request such information in order to assess whether the respondent was a fit and proper person for a licence.

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Well on this one I think the DBS, CRB or whatever they call it next is enough to show I am not an abuser (who has been caught, I realise it only shows what it knows - or seriously suspects).

If I saw a child or youngster who I believed was being abused I would of course inform relevant authorities.

But I (and most others) do not need to do a course, wasting a day of time to do so. If they paid me, even at the National Minimum Wage, I would attend. They wouldn't, so I wouldn't.

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Chris The Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mc ... re=related