Taxi Driver Online

Came across this earlier, although it was published a week or two ago.

The new offences which a Derby cabbie could lose their licence over

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/d ... ld-1859594

Some drivers have appealed against the refusal of a licence in the magistrates' court

Urinating in public, stalking, failing to report an accident and having a dirty vehicle have all been added to the long list of offences that could mean Derby cabbies lose their licence.

Twelve months ago, the city council introduced a points system for deciding when a person should be able to get or keep a licence to drive taxis.

The system, which identifies people not considered “fit and proper”, means that anyone who scores 12 points or above when they apply for a licence will not be allowed one.

If a cabbie accrues 12 points, they would lose their licence.

Offences are given points according to severity and how long ago they took place. For example, someone guilty of possessing an offensive weapon would be automatically refused a licence for the first five years after the offence. In the sixth year, they would have eight points, seven after seven years through to four points after 10 years.

There are some convictions such as sexual offences, most dishonesty offences and firearms offences, which qualify for an automatic refusal for a taxi licence - or would mean the revocation of an existing licence.

In the first year of the new system, there have been 63 applications - 53 existing renewals and 10 new applications - dealt with by officers under the penalty points system.

Among the applications, points were awarded for the late reporting of accidents, not reporting the sale of a vehicle, late reporting of convictions, non-wearing of badges on vehicles and other offences. They resulted in points for 21 licence holders, the suspension of 16 drivers, six outright refusals and three existing licences being revoked.

Five people of those people have made appeals against the refusal, or revocation, of a licence under the points scheme. All were dismissed except one which was withdrawn before the case went to court.

Councillors have concluded that the system is working and agreed it should be made permanent. They have also added more offences to the points list, including urinating in public, stalking, failing to report an accident and having a dirty vehicle.

Mike Kay, city council acting director of public protection, said: “In November 2016, the council considered a report setting out proposals for a review of taxi licensing decision making processes and procedures.

“Changes agreed, including the introduction of a penalty points system designed to make clear, consistent and robust administrative decisions in the public interest.

“Initially, as many different scenarios likely to be relevant to the taxi licence process were included. But in the past 12 months, it has been kept under review and a number of amendments have been proposed, including new offences and greater clarity for others.”

The penalty system is not universally popular among taxi drivers, At the most recent Licensed Trade meeting held at the Council House, the Derby Area Taxi Association challenged the fact that drivers are being refused renewals based on previous convictions under the new points system.

Mr Kay said: “Previous convictions are not taken into consideration unless a new conviction is disclosed, new information is received or the licence is up for renewal.

“Drivers have been made aware that existing convictions will be taken into account when the licence is renewed and if there are any new convictions.”

Penalty points were introduced after auditors criticised the council’s practice of awarding licences through its licensing sub-committee and instances emerged of councillors recommending people who had previous convictions.

The new system sees officers applying the points system. Anyone refused a licence can take their appeal to the magistrates’ court and not to councillors.

They do not need a points system to remove the license for the above, most councils use existing legal processes.

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IDFIMH

Our LA decided to come out in winter, when there was slush all over the roads mixed with salt/grit. They started sending cars to be washed because they were dirty !

I suppose it's a bit like the short suspensions used as a 'utilitarian' punishment.

These types of things are nowhere near justifying a revocation, and even a short suspension might seem a bit much, depending on the circumstances and the driver's conduct more generally.

So a points system provides some sort of sanction and deterrent, and clearly if a driver accumulates enough points to warrant suspension or revocation then that's simply reflecting a pattern of behaviour.

Of course, that's the theory, and it won't work so well in practice - as Sasha's example might indicate - but surely a few points for failing to report an accident (say) is better than a suspension.

(Derby's reference to stalking seems a bit leftfield though - that sounds more like conduct unrelated to the trade rather than something that might happen as a result of the driver's work, and also sounds quite serious, but who knows what they're getting at with that.)

I agree, but are we allowing licensing officers to become prosecutor, jury and judge?

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IDFIMH