Taxi Driver Online

Seems a few haven't passed the test, but it doesn't seem any are going to lose their license.

Bedford taxi drivers should “bring their English up to the required standard” to retain licences

A report to Bedford Borough Council has advised that taxi drivers in the Borough should “bring their English up to the required standard”, if they wish to retain their licence, saying the test of a taxi or minicab driver’s proficiency should cover both oral and written English language skills.

But, presenting the report to the General Licensing Committee last week (22 September), Lee Phanco, chief officer for assessment, application and business support, explained that taxi drivers should be supported so they didn’t lose their jobs should they fail the test.

“…we also wanted to make sure that drivers would have sufficient opportunity if they found that they did need to improve their English skills,” he said.

“So that it wasn’t a case that they wouldn’t be able to continue with their profession [if they failed].

Current figures show that 49 drivers in the Borough haven’t taken the English assessment test, this is made up of 19 hackney carriage (taxi) drivers and 30 private hire (minicab) drivers.

The report stated that a lack of proficiency in English could impact a taxi or minicab driver’s ability to understand written policies and guidance.

Oral proficiency in English could also help identify potential exploitation through communicating with passengers and their interaction with others.

Requirement

Proficiency in English for private hire drivers became a requirement for new drivers in 2006. These drivers were exempt because they have had a continuous licence for a “significant period of time”.

“The recommendation to the committee is that these drivers should be required to successfully complete the test,” Mr Phanco said.

Explaining how taxi drivers would get help and opportunity to improve their English, Mr Phanco added: “If their renewal was due after June 30, we’d ask the driver to take the test in advance.

“So that by the time the renewal was due they would have had six months to bring their English up to the required standard.

“Effectively, we would give them six months to complete the test and in the event that wasn’t completed, we’d review the licence and may consider withdrawing it.

“We thought that was the fairest approach to make sure that the drivers have ample opportunity.

“I think we’d expect that the majority of drivers wouldn’t have a problem with passing the English assessment test,” he said.

ESOL courses

“They [the drivers] know what the job involves, but you want an improvement in English so they can communicate with the customer,” Cllr Mohammed Nawaz (Labour, Kempston Central & East) asked.

Mr Phanco replied: “It’s not necessarily an improvement, I would imagine many of the drivers would be absolutely fine.

“The purpose of the test is just to help us identify anybody that may not be able to communicate effectively, and we want to give them enough of an opportunity to be able to improve their [language skills].”

Councillor Nawaz asked if the council will be providing the training.

“This is not something that we would specifically provide through the licencing service, Mr Phanco replied.

“Bedford College, for example, provides ESOL courses, which is funded through the adult education budget.

“We could look at how we can signpost people to be able to access those courses,” he said.

The test will be provided free of charge to the drivers.

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IDFIMH

Still reeling over that thingy in the title, surely the worst crime against the English language ever committed on TDO

And that's saying something

But I get it now. It's just Sussex being ironic - if you used that in the test, your badge would surely be revoked immediately

Chapeau

And, ironically, this clunky piece of English doesn't really make sense. Presumably 'these drivers' are the ones who were exempt in 2006 because of 'grandfather rights', sort of thing?

So seems a bit odd that they're being asked to take a test 14 years later


So the article explains the terminology above...


...but then mysteriously differentiates 'private hire drivers' and 'taxi drivers', but doesn't really explain why. But I'd guess the properly explained terminology is subsequently misused. Ironically, in view of what the article is all about

Or maybe I didn't have enough characters to use the correct terminology.

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IDFIMH

Yes, but I mean there are limits

But I often spend more time fannying around with the thread title than on the actual article to avoid such stuff that I don't like

Of course, we've all got different attitudes to stuff like that, and there's no absolute right or wrong. But I'd have dumped the word 'trade' and thus used the whole word 'before', because for readers on here the word trade maybe isn't strictly required

And, anyway, it does look as if it would have all fitted in within the character limit using the full word 'before'

Or, if you're like me, maybe you used the abbreviation so that you could fit in something else, but then forgot to put it in