Consolidated legislative framework for licensing taxi drivers key for public safety, charity says

A personal safety charity has called for national minimum standards for licensing taxi and private hire vehicle drivers after finding at least 90 active licences were held by drivers with convictions for violent offences.

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust said a consolidated legislative framework is "imperative" for public safety and recommended a policy that clearly specifies which crimes and behaviours result in the revocation of a driver's licence.

Local authorities currently use their own criteria, but there are optional national guidelines for whether an applicant is fit and proper to hold a licence.

These guidelines include the Councillor's Handbook (England and Wales) on Taxi and PHV licensing produced by the Local Government Association (LGA), the Best Practice Guidelines issued by the Department for Transport in 2023 and guidelines set out by other bodies such as the Institute of Licensing.

However, the trust argues that "inconsistencies" across licensing puts passengers at risk.

The report, ‘Steering Towards Safety’’, was based on the findings of a Freedom of Information (FOI) exercise.

The trust received responses from 37 licensing authorities out of 285 it contacted.

These licensing authorities provided information on the number of licensed drivers who held convictions.

Twenty-eight of these councils also provided information on the nature of the convictions.

The data showed that at least 90 active licences were held by taxi or private hire vehicle drivers with convictions for violent offences, according to the report.

"Suzy Lamplugh Trust is therefore concerned that if other licensing authorities are using similar practices, the data we have been provided with may represent a significant underestimation of the problem."

The report said that building up a picture of the number of drivers with criminal offences or the number of offences themselves had proven difficult, but "the FOI responses we received showed an estimated 368 licences were issued to drivers with previous convictions varying from dishonestly using electricity to assault, battery and sexual offences".

The trust has now called for national minimum standards to make taxis safer.

It said: "It is imperative that a single consolidated legislative framework be implemented outlining clear and specific minimum standards for licensing taxi and PHV drivers to ensure consistency across all licensing authorities to better protect the public's safety."

As part of national minimum standards, the trust recommended the development of a policy that clearly specifies which crimes and behaviours result in the revocation of a driver's licence.

"This should not be restricted to convictions but carefully considers the nature of each alleged crime and incident and the potential risk to passengers", the report said.

The trust also recommended that taxi and private hire vehicle drivers be regulated to enable the offences under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, relating to a barred individual working or seeking to work in regulated activity, to apply to drivers.

In addition, it said that there should be mandatory access for licensing authorities to a driver's criminal history.

On this point, the report said: "Even though the Department for Transport's statutory guidance requires it, this is not currently a mandatory requirement for taxi/PHV drivers who are not contracted to drive 'vulnerable adults' or children.

"Although we are glad that all authorities required enhanced DBS security checks for taxi and PHV drivers according to recent statistics, it is concerning that there would be no penalties should an authority decide not to apply this requirement.

"National minimum standards should require licensing authorities to carry out enhanced DBS checks on all licence holders at least every nine months when the DBS is fully updated by the police on all incidents relating to an individual."

Adam Carey