Agenda item

The Sub-Committee to consider changes to the application process for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Drivers Licences.

Mrs Davies outlined the recommendations contained within the report. She advised that they related to a proposal to include Child Sexual Exploitation training for licensed drivers as part of the existing test process and a separate proposal related to the Deregulation Act 2015 and suggested changes to the licensed driver application process to align it with Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

The Sub-Committee was advised that there had been a national focus on Child Sexual Exploitation in recent years with a number of high profile failures highlighted in various local authorities that included Rotherham and Oxford.  Mrs Davies reported that licensed drivers, by virtue of their regular contact with the public, could play a role in helping to identify possible abusers and those vulnerable people most at risk from abuse.

The Sub-Committee noted that training in relation to Child Sexual Exploitation had already been included as part of the application process for licensed drivers in other local authority areas. The recommendation for Blackpool was that all Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Drivers Licence applicants should undertake safeguarding training before a licence could be granted and for this training to be delivered as part of the existing knowledge test. Mrs Davies advised that in practical terms this would mean applicants would be expected to observe a thirty minute presentation on Child Sexual Exploitation and then complete a short test to assess their retention of the information contained within the presentation. Members noted that the test would not result in a pass or fail, though a low score or a refusal to engage with the subject matter would call into question whether the applicant was a fit and proper person to be licensed.

In relation to the latter recommendation, the Sub-Committee was advised that as a result of the Deregulation Act 2015, a number of authorities had experienced administrative problems associated with changes to the terms that drivers could be licensed and the additional complexities of trying to align licence applications with Disclosure and Barring Service checks. The recommendation was to confirm that the provisions of the Deregulation Act 2015 dealing with length of Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Drivers Licenses would be phased in to ensure that the licence renewal date would fall at the same time that the Disclosure and Barring Service check would be due.

The Sub-Committee considered the need to increase measures designed to reduce the number of cases of Child Sexual Exploitation and reasoned that the additional requirements and costs associated with the suggested changes to the existing application process were minimal and the potential benefits far outweighed such concerns.

In relation to the changes recommended following the Deregulation Act 2015, the Sub-Committee considered the impact on licensed drivers and rationalised that the licence application process would be simplified by the changes and unnecessary delays and additional paperwork could be avoided.

Resolved:

1.      That the requirement for applicants for a new Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Drivers Licence to undertake safeguarding training before becoming licensed would be implemented and the training would be delivered as part of the existing knowledge test.

2.      To confirm that the provisions of the Deregulation Act 2015 dealing with length of Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Drivers Licenses would be phased in to ensure that the licence renewal date was the same as the Disclosure and Barring Service check due date.