Taxi Driver Online

Telford taxi drivers raise privacy concerns over free in-cab CCTV scheme

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/tel ... me-9253240

Taxi drivers in Telford & Wrekin have shown a reluctance to have free CCTV installed in their cabs because of privacy worries when the vehicles are used as personal family cars, a meeting heard.

Some 48 licensed private hire vehicles and hackney carriages have had the safety cameras fitted since the scheme was launched in December 2022 with funding from the borough's community safety partnership.

With around 400 licences in the borough, a councillor wondered why more were not taking part in the scheme.

Councillor Peter Scott (Independent, Newport West) asked: "It's good that 48 have taken it up - is there any reason some don't?

"It's an excellent scheme and it will make people feel safer, particularly the ladies."

A council officer said they were getting the message out that footage is only used following an incident or complaint.

The meeting of the community scrutiny committee was told that some private hire vehicles are also used as personal private vehicles.

"Some of the taxi drivers don't feel comfortable having CCTV on because they think it would record every journey and they feel it's an invasion of privacy," said a council official.

"But we are getting the message out there. We only ever take footage from CCTV from inside a vehicle if there was a complaint or incident. It would be related to their work."

Councillor Giles Luter (Labour, Ercall) said the roll out of CCTV in taxis is a "positive start and if we can encourage more people to get involved I think it makes especially women feel more comfortable travelling around. It's an excellent initiative.”

Chairing the meeting on Thursday (Oct 1, 2026), Councillor Elise Davies (Labour, Malinslee & Dawley Bank) agreed that it is "an amazing initiative."

Committee members were looking into the night time economy and how the council and others work to keep people safe.

The borough supports a Taxi Marshal scheme, Street Pastors and the use of data and intelligence to identify hotspots associated with licensed premises, taxis and community safety concerns, targeted enforcement and preventative interventions.

The council also works in partnership with West Mercia Police on vehicle stop operations, and has held a reciprocal arrangement with Wolverhampton Council, enabling borough officials to inspect and suspend Wolverhampton-licensed vehicles.

During 2025, 18 breach of condition notices were issued to Telford vehicle proprietors, requiring identified defects or compliance issues to be rectified.

These breaches included failures to have private hire vehicle plates fixed correctly, a defective headlamp and drivers not wearing their private hire vehicle lanyards.

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IDFIMH

It's because they are as thick as pigs' sh**.

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IDFIMH

Rather than ramble on for 10,000 words about why I agree with the Telford drivers, I'm saying nothing

Not wishing to prompt your ramblings but I would ask if a council anywhere in the country has ever requested data from taxi CCTV showing drivers having a day out with their families.

B&H has had mandatory CCTV for over 15 years now, and the council has never requested CCTV footage of drivers when they haven’t been working.

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IDFIMH

It's not really that angle I'm so bothered about.

It's more about stuff like institutional prejudice, dis-proportionality and double standards, or two-tier policing, sort of thing (in fact, it's multi-tier, if you look at the wider context of policing, the courts and stuff leaning more towards regulation and licensing, blah, blah).

So you feel you've got a target on your back all the time, and you're constantly looking over your shoulder. Although at the same time you consider that, although you're not a perfect human being, on the other hand you haven't done anything particularly wrong

Anarcho-tyranny, I think the term is

So having a lens (or two) in your face all the time during the working day, accessible by officials, police and councillors, would just up that ante considerably, in my opinion.

And all that's mainly what I regard as a left wing thing.

But it's hardly confined to the left. I mean, there's Rupert Lowe and his Restore UK rabble hyperventilating about stuff like digital ID, and indeed about a huge amount of other kinds of government intervention and regulation.

Yet they want CCTV cameras in the faces of taxi drivers 24/7, or at least all the time they're working.

On the other hand, maybe I'd be OK under Restore types, because I'm the right skin colour

But under the current liberal establishment, I'm the wrong colour

I get all that, but from my experience, you forget it's there.

As for the concerns expressed by the Telford trade, IMO they can be addressed quite simply.

They must ensure that in the council's requirements there are only three reasons for anyone to have access to the CCTV footage.

1. A complaint made to the council about the driver. In that case, the only footage downloaded should be limited to the time the incident is alleged to have happened.

2. A request from the police.

3. A request from the driver/owner's insurance company following an accident.

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IDFIMH