Agenda item

The licensing enforcement officer introduced a report to inform members of the change in the level of CRB checks for hackney carriage and private hire drivers from a standard check to an enhanced check following new government guidelines.

Members were reminded that prior to March 2011, it had been the practice for many years to require all new applicants for a private hire or hackney carriage licence to have an enhanced CRB check on application, and a further one a year after the licence had been issued, followed by further checks every 3 years. It was reported that this had always been done in accordance with the Department for Transport guidelines, and had been a practice followed by most local authority licensing departments.

In March 2011 the CRB had published a newsletter stating that it would be “illegal” to request an enhanced check for the sole purpose of issuing a licence to a taxi or private hire vehicle driver.

They had backed up this statement by outlining the legislative framework as detailed below:-

“The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974(ROA)(Exceptions)Order 1975 lists the types of occupations, professions and positions for which you are legally entitled to request a Standard CRB check. Taxi Drivers’ Licences are included in this list and therefore clearly entitled to a Standard level of check.

The Police Act 1997 sets out a list of employments which are entitled to an Enhanced CRB check. As it currently stands, the issuing of a licence in respect of either a Taxi of Private Hire Vehicle driver is not listed.  This means that it would be illegal to request an Enhanced CRB check for the sole purpose of issuing a licence to a Taxi or Private Hire Vehicle driver.

Taxi and Private Hire drivers are not a specified position in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, however in certain circumstances some drivers will be carrying out regulated activity but only when they transport children or vulnerable adults to and from a regulated activity AND it is organised by the providers of the regulated activity or an organisation working on their behalf, e.g. Local Authority school contract or NHS contract.

It is not regulated activity if a child/vulnerable adult hires a taxi in the street or by telephone privately.”

It was advised that this had effectively meant that taxi drivers were not caught by the need for an enhanced check for children or vulnerable adults who they transport via an ordinary booking. An enhanced check would only be required if the driver was going to have regular contact through a school contract etc.

It was reported that following pressure from Licensing Officer Groups the Government had issued new guidelines which stated that hackney carriage and private hire drivers should be subject to an enhanced level CRB check. Following the latest advice from the CRB, licensing officers had been requesting an enhanced CRB check for hackney carriage and private hire drivers.

Following latest Government guidelines which had stated that enhanced level CRB checks may be carried out for the purpose of issuing a licence to a taxi or private hire vehicle driver, the licensing officers had been requesting an enhanced check for this purpose.   The Committee was asked to endorse this approach.

It was proposed by Councillor Kennedy and seconded by Councillor Greenall:-

“That the committee endorses the change back to enhanced CRB checks, and that the licensing requirements for applicants be amended accordingly.”

Upon being put to the vote members voted unanimously in favour of the proposition, whereupon the chairman declared the proposition to be carried.

Resolved:

That the committee endorses the change back to enhanced CRB checks, and that the licensing requirements for applicants be amended accordingly.