Taxi Driver Online

Another one where it looks like he's been working for at least a year since the incident, and only then they decide he's not fit and proper

Or maybe these cases are where the driver is suspended for the 'remaining period of his licence', or whatever the wording is.

So it's maybe just easier to suspend them and hope they don't reapply, rather than revoke them.

It's maybe because of some kind of procedural quirk in the Scottish system that means it's easier to suspend for the remainder of the licence rather than revoke, but I'm not sure


Glasgow private hire driver who spat at man while working refused new licence

https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glas ... o-30840826

Police Scotland objected to Syed Shah's application to renew his licence due to an incident in 2023.

A private hire driver who acted “aggressively” and spat on a man while at work has been refused a new licence.

Syed Shah’s bid to renew his private hire car driver’s licence was thrown out by Glasgow licensing chiefs following an objection by Police Scotland.

An officer said Mr Shah had been sentenced to 100 hours of unpaid work due to an incident in 2023.

She said the applicant, while working as a private hire driver, had reportedly behaved in a “threatening or abusive manner”.

Councillors were told he did “shout, swear and act in a threatening manner towards another male” and then “assaulted the male when he spat on him”.

Police Scotland believes he is “no longer a fit and proper person to be holder of a licence”. Mr Shah said he was “very sorry” and claimed people had been giving him “a really hard time”.

Cllr Alex Wilson, SNP, who chairs the licensing committee, said the applicant had “behaved in a totally unreasonable fashion as a private hire car driver”.

“Being a driver in this city is not easy,” he added. “You are confronted with people who have been drinking alcohol, on drugs or whatever.

“You get groups of people who are acting in all manner of ways. They will push every button you’ve got.”

He told Mr Shah he had to “rise above that”. “You didn’t rise above it, that’s the problem.”

The committee decided to refuse his application for a three-year licence. Bailie Hanif Raja, Labour, recorded his dissent with the ruling.

Maybe he didn't report it and/or it occurred outside of Glasgow.

Spitting is viewed by the courts as a serious assault, and I'm not surprised one bit that the fella's license wasn't renewed.

_________________
IDFIMH

I'd always assumed there's some sort of mechanism whereby police inform licensing authorities in more serious cases, rather than relying on the driver to inform the authority, although I don't know how it all works - isn't there something called a 'notifiable offence' for particular occupations?

Although maybe this particular offence wasn't deemed serious enough for that to take place...

(And, of course, as per usual, the details of all that kind of stuff will be different north and south of the border. Up here, there's zero debate about our CRB equivalent. Last time I looked, it's called Disclosure Scotland. But when we apply for anything in Fife, only Police Scotland are ever mentioned, and there's zero mention of anything like our CRB equivalent, and it all goes on behind the scenes, so to speak. And pretty sure our police are a lot more hands on about it all, which in turn makes me wonder about the type of scenario in the article above )

There is meant to be, but that relies on the driver telling the police his occupation.

There is no legal requirement for one of us to volunteer that information to the police.

_________________
IDFIMH

Yes, I'd always wondered about what people would tell police as regards their occupation, and how that might impact the badge stuff.

In particular, both areas I've worked in have been full of part-timers (and the benefit claimants etc), so if they're involved in something that's nothing to do with the trade then I'd doubt either would declare that their occupation is 'taxi driver'.

To that extent there's nothing immediately notifiable, at least until the badge need renewed.

But, of course, whether the driver is full- or part-time shouldn't be relevant to whether he's fit and proper as regards the badge.

There used to be a Home Office list of 'notifiable occupations'. IIRC the armed forces had to be told if one of theirs was under police attention, some others could be told.

That system's changed but I think they still can if there's a risk which needs to be addressed.