Taxi Driver Online

Taxi boss questions three month licence wait


THE BOSS of a taxi firm has questioned a council’s policy on issuing taxi driver licences to new recruits. Mark Coates, managing director of Wrexham and Prestige Taxis, believes the rules are currently unfair for new drivers as he says they can face a wait of up to three months before receiving their new licence.

However this is because of mandatory police checks enforced by Wrexham Council to ensure licensed drivers have not been found guilty of certain offences including dishonesty, indecency, violence and dangerous driving.

He believes that the rules need changing. He said: “Something needs changing because at the moment they’re not right. I agree we need police checks but its the fact that new drivers have to wait up to three months to get their new licences that I’m disgusted with.

Alternative

“The amount of people who come to us saying they want to become taxi drivers, together we fill out the necessary forms but then it takes up to three months for them to come through.

“The point is that by the time the police checks have come through they could have found an alternative job because they don’t want to be unemployed for three months, so we ring them up to ask if they want to start and they tell us they’ve found other work. Its a waste of their time and ours. Why can’t the council issue new recruits a temporary licence, subject to the results of the police checks?”

Mr Coates also felt that the rules regarding licence renewals needed reviewing as a police check is not carried out if the licence is renewed within one month of expiry.

Andy Lewis, Wrexham’s chief public protection officer, said: “A wait of three months for a police check is exceptional as the Criminal Records Bureau respond to inquiries within 4 weeks in over 90 per cent of cases.

“Wrexham Council’s number one priority when looking at an application for a new taxi driver licence is the protection of the public.

“Taxis carry young, disabled and sometimes vulnerable people and to issue a licence without a completed police check would be irresponsible of us and could potentially endanger any passengers carried in the vehicle.

“In the case of licence renewals, if the application is received within one month of its expiry a licence is renewed providing there are no causes for concern on the application. Renewal after one month is not possible and the application would require a completed police check.”

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IDFIMH

Not an unusual scenario, but the same people who complain about this are often at the same time moaning that there are to many taxis operating.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

This is how it works in London so why not anywhere else?

Or am I missing something here??

Regards eric

I think London is a one off, and temp licenses were issued to help out at the beggining of LPH licensing.

I'm not sure how much longer that will continue, most probably up until a temp license driver rapes or kills someone.

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IDFIMH

i think some of the firms down here want to make it easyer to license drivers.
they really hate the dsa test.
too many plates not enough drivers.

thats very likley
from private hire because they aint got anything to lose they anit done any knowledge and any fool can be a private hire driver dont need any brains just a car from the breakers yard and a sat nav from woolworths and claming the dole thats what makes a miniscabdriver