This is another of the Times' articles in this week's investigation. Only the first few paragraphs are included below, but the detail is included in a local article, below the Times extract.
Of course, these issues are nothing particularly new to readers on here, but it's interesting to see how a national newspaper like the Times is reporting it, as opposed to the mainly local press which normally covers such issues - more chance of Westminster getting its act together if there's a national focus on the thing.
There are also local reaction pieces from Rossendale and Wolverhampton to the Times investigation, but as these mainly rehash what we've know for months/years there seems little point in including them here.
Taxi scandal: criminal culture in the Birmingham cab tradehttps://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/taxi ... -mv80mdft0A criminal subculture has taken root in the taxi trade of Birmingham, where licences are being doled out to habitual offenders.
Even when cabbies commit fresh crimes, they can hope to escape with a ticking off or brief suspension.
A trawl through a database of criminal convictions suggests the council sees nothing unusual about giving licences to taxi drivers with a repeated propensity for violence. A tolerance for serious motoring offences such as driving without insurance, drink-driving and driving while using a mobile phone is also surprisingly common.
The offenders form a minority of 114 among Birmingham’s 4,943 private hire and 1,297 hackney cab drivers, but passengers face a lottery each time they entrust their safety to someone unfamiliar.
More than 100 taxi drivers working in Birmingham with criminal recordshttps://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/m ... s-14701180Crimes include drug-dealing, burglary, affray and fraudMore than 100 cab and taxi drivers are licensed to operate in Birmingham despite having convictions for crimes including speeding, driving without insurance and drug dealing, an investigation has revealed.
Details revealed under the Freedom of Information Act found a total of 114 of the 6,000 licenced private hire and hackney carriage drivers licenced to drive in the city had criminal convictions.
And the true figure of those operating in Birmingham is likely to be higher as the figures did not include those licenced by other councils.
Birmingham faced calls to tighten its licensing procedure following the revelations, revealed in The Times.
The most serious reported cases included a driver who accepted a caution for assault/ill treatment/neglect of a child or young person in 2013.
Another had convictions for supplying heroin and crack cocaine in the last decade.
And a third was prosecuted for burglary and theft in 2011.
Other drivers had convictions for affray, fraud and possession of drugs and motoring offences such as speeding, drink-driving and driving without insurance and while disqualified.
One received a suspended prison sentence for issuing a hoax bomb threat in 1990.
While those with lengthy and recent criminal records are stripped of their licences, others merely have them suspended or receive official warnings.
Perry Barr Labour MP Khalid Mahmood demanded a tightening of the rules to ensure the safety of passengers.
“Attention needs to be urgently put to this," he said.
"Passengers need to be sure they are safe getting in a taxi.”
Mr Mahmood called for the introduction of regional standards to stop the practice of drivers approaching cheaper councils or those seen as having lower standards.
Wolverhampton, in particular, has come under fire for issuing licences to drivers based miles away .
The West Midlands Combined Authority is believed to be looking into the matter.
Councils must restrict taxi licences to “fit and proper” persons but are free to interpret the description to include criminals.
Birmingham licensing chief Chris Neville said: "We take taxi licensing and public safety very seriously.
"All applications for new Hackney Carriage or private hire drivers’ licences are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and all licensed drivers must be DBS-checked every three years.
“Any applicants or licence holders with convictions for dishonesty, drugs, violence or sexual offences are brought before one of the licensing sub-committees, who then determine whether they are a fit and proper person to hold a licence.
“It is standard policy that any applicant with a conviction for a drug related or sexual offence should be refused a licence, however an applicant can ask to appear before the licensing sub-committee to consider their suitability to hold a licence.
“We are currently looking at some aspects of our taxi-licensing policy including recommending that councillors should not be able to give references for taxi drivers.
"We will also be consulting on proposals to prevent other elected persons, including MPs, MEPs, elected mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners, from doing the same.”
In deciding whether a driver is considered to be fit and proper, a sub-committee will take into account the nature of the offence, length of time since conviction, the driver’s character and any other relevant information.
Under Section 52 of the Road Safety Act 2006, a local authority can suspend or revoke a licence in the interest of public safety.
This power is used where credible evidence that a licensed driver may have committed a serious offence, prior to conviction, is brought to the authority’s attention.
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