Taxi Driver Online

Quite a hoo-ha ha but I'm not quite sure what the licensing officers could have done. Guessing nothing naughty flagged up on the DBS.

Taxi driver's licence revoked but 'error' meant he carried on transporting kids to school

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north- ... r-29590046

"Human error" allowed a home-to-school taxi driver to continue to work despite his licence being revoked. The revelation was unearthed at this morning’s (Monday’s) governance and audit meeting at Conwy Council's Bodlondeb HQ during a discussion about internal performance.

During the debate, Llandudno councillor Tom Montgomery grilled council officers on safeguarding issues affecting school taxis. Cllr Montgomery suggested a taxi driver had been allowed to work – possibly for years – despite having his licence revoked.

"I can see in appendix D that we are due to have a follow-up report on the home-to-school transport audit report that came out not so long ago,” said Cllr Montgomery. “In that report it touched on safeguarding issues. Before I was a member, there was a safeguarding issue that was raised in licensing that a fellow member brought to my attention.

"It was resolved. Long story short, licensing committee revoked a licence but never obtained the physical licence back from the individual, and several years later that individual was discovered to be conducting home-to-school transport work, which obviously raised a series of safeguarding concerns given the nature of why his licence was revoked.

"The licensing body resolved that the cabinet members would come to the body to explain how a situation where an individual who was unlicensed was able to conduct home-to-school transport work. That resolution was, if I'm correct, made on the 1/12/2021.

"Apparently, that update from cabinet members has never been forthcoming. So I just wanted to query, when audit is looking at safeguarding, whether we have looked at if home-to-school transport is communicating effectively with licensing to make sure all of the individuals who are completing home-to-school transport work are properly licensed by this authority.”

Conwy’s transport manager Andrew Dawson said: “I can respond from the school transport aspect, in that we work closely with regulatory services. So we do have quite a number of meetings.

"Obviously, in that case, that was a human error at the time. But since that point, processes have been tightened up a lot. In terms of school transport, we check all our drivers.

“Obviously some taxi drivers don't work for school transport, falls outside of us. But yeah, in terms of the ones that fall within school transport, we do check."

Cllr Montgomery added: “So you cross reference with licensing to make sure they have their licences?” "Yes, totally,” Mr Dawson responded.

“We go to schools and do joint inspections together." Cllr Montgomery then said he would pursue the matter outside of the meeting.

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IDFIMH

Surely that particular drivers licence would have expired since they can only be issued for a maximum of 3 years?

I still can't find a reference to him as a bus driver in the article I must have missed it somewhere

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Indeed, something I made up.

I assumed he left the taxi/PH trade and started driving a minibus, and therefore didn't come under council licensing. Maybe using the PSV iffy small licensing procedure.

Or maybe he didn't tell the taxi/PH operator undertaking the school work, or maybe a big fat blind eye was being turned.

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IDFIMH

Eh? What does the DBS have to do anything if he wasn't even badged?

But, indeed, it would be interesting to know precisely what or whose vehicle he was driving, assuming it was even plated

And the continued existence of a physical badge or paper licence after revocation (whether it had ostensibly expired or not) is presumably a red herring, because the main problem seemed to be that licenses weren't checked by the school transport bods anyway.

Because he still had he badge on his person, not in the council's shredder.

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IDFIMH

There's nothing iffy about proper minibus licences, it's the section 19" voluntary minibuses that are iffy. Every PSV operator should check their drivers licences twice a year and keep a record. Those who drive solely on H2S work are required to have the DBS check on the council contract.

It could be this individl is an escort on a minibus, that IS worrying.