Taxi and private hire drivers could have to pass an intensive criminal record checks under government proposals. The Department of Transport has launched a consultation on new rules to better protect vulnerable passengers.
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Last year a government report found the laws regulating drivers were not “fit for the modern world”. The consultations for England and Wales will also consider whether taxis and private hire vehicles should be fitted with CCTV. Any video recording system would be encrypted so the footage would only be seen if there was an incident reported. It is also said a national minimum standards for drivers should be introduced and should set up a national licensing database. It could also stop drivers from operating out of where they are licensed.
Under the current laws anyone who is denied a taxi license by local authority in England and Wales can travel to another area where the licensing authority may be more easy-going.
Taxis minister Nusrat Ghani said: “While the vast majority of drivers are safe and act responsibly, we have seen too many cases where taxi and minicab drivers have used their job to prey on vulnerable people, women and children.
“These rules would make sure that drivers are fit to carry passengers, keeping people safe while stopping those with bad intentions from getting behind the wheel of a taxi or minicab.”
This proposal comes after the case of “black cab rapist” John Worboys who is believed to carried out more than 100 rapes and sexual assaults on women he picked up in his cab between 2002 and 2008. He was jailed for 19 offences including rape, sexual assault and drugging his victims in 2009. The case made headline news after the High Court overturned the decision of the Parole Board to release him after 10 years of his sentence.
It emerged last year that taxi licences were being issued in secret to drivers convicted of offences including child sex crimes and reckless driving. Currently a license authority such as a council has to decide whether someone is fit and proper before giving them a taxi or private hire licences.
The consultation will run until 22 April. The Welsh Government also has its own proposals for taxi regulations. The Northern Ireland government already have their own rules/tests for taxi drivers. In Scotland, the Scottish Government is responsible for regulating the powers of local licensing authorities.
