Taxi drivers in the Hambleton district, including Easingwold and Thirsk, will have to go through criminal background checks every six months under strict new rules proposed by the council.
The new licensing measures are the idea of Hambleton District Council to improve passenger safety and if approved would also see the introduction of checks for taxi business owners.
Members of the council’s licensing committee backed the new rules at a meeting today (11 August) and a final approval will be needed from full council before they are implemented.
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Speaking at today’s meeting, Simon Fisher, licensing and procurement manager at the council, explained that the rules would also mean new checks for bookings staff.
He said: “The staff who are responsible for taking bookings and dispatching vehicles – they are not licensed by the council
“So, this is a new obligation, as recommended by the Department for Transport, so that private hire operators take some responsibility to ensure that those people who are trusted with potentially system information are also subject to criminal record checks.”
The new Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards are being imposed by the government on all councils following what it described as “historic serious cases of taxi and Private Hire Vehicles drivers abusing their position of trust.”
These cases include incidents of grooming gangs using taxis to ferry around their victims elsewhere in the country.
Speaking when the measures were first announced last year, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We know the majority of drivers provide an important and safe service for communities, but in light of appalling incidents in places like Rochdale, Oxford, Newcastle and Rotherham, more must be done to protect passengers from those who abuse their position of trust.
“We expect all licensing authorities to implement the standards and won’t hesitate to introduce legislation if they don’t fulfil their responsibilities to keep the public safe.”
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Currently in the Hambleton district, drivers are checked every three years and this would be increased to every six months under the proposals.
Taxi business owners are currently not subject to any checks but these would be introduced on an annual basis.
At today’s meeting, Mr Fisher was questioned by councillors if the licencing department would be able to cope with an increased number of checks and not let any “slip through the net”.
He responded: “There will be additional duties for us as we will have to conduct, or at least administer, many more criminal record checks.
“But we are absolutely confident of this and we will make sure we meet all of our expectations.
“We will also be making sure all the drivers and operators are aware of their new responsibilities.”