Ashfield MP Lee Anderson Demands Answers on Taxi Drivers Licencing

The Reform UK Member of Parliament for Ashfield, Lee Anderson, has called on the Government to introduce new legislation to close the legal loopholes around out of area taxi driver’s licencing. He has also submitted Freedom of Information requests (FOI) to a number of local authorities seeking information on taxi driver license holders that did not provide an enhanced DBS Certificate.

Since 2012, it has been the decision of Local Licencing Authorities as whether to require taxi driver licence applicants to provide an enhanced DBS Certificate. From this point, it became standard practice for Local Councils to request one from every applicant. However, if one is not provided, it is ultimately the decision of the Licencing Authority as to whether to grant it or not. In these instances, in most Council areas, the decision falls to Local Councillors that are sitting on the Licencing Committee.

The Ashfield MP has written to local authorities in Nottinghamshire to request information on people who were issued a taxi driver’s licence without undergoing an enhanced DBS check for criminal records.

The MP has also called on the Government to close the legal loopholes that allow people to apply for a taxi driver’s licence in any council area of the country that do not have as rigorous checks for taxi driver’s licences as other authorities, and then they can operate in a completely different area.

Over 11% of England’s private hire vehicles are licenced by the City of Wolverhampton Council.

Lee Anderson MP said:

“I have been inundated with emails from people all over the country who are worried about the findings of the Casey Report on grooming gangs, particularly in relation to taxi driver licencing.”

“For those old enough to remember, if you called a taxi, the drivers would always be the same people, and they would be local residents. They knew the entire local area like the back of their hand.”

“Most of our taxi drivers offer a first class service, but Councils needs to make sure that DBS checks are carried out on before licences are issued. Councils should not be playing Russian Roulette with the lives of young girls and women. To that end, I have request information from local authorities as to how many taxi licences have been issued to people who did not provide an enhanced DBS Certificate.”

“This has been born out of the exploitation of legal loopholes around out-of-area taxi licencing from Councils that do not have the same rigorous checks that other Councils do.

“I’m calling on the Government to close these loopholes immediately to make it safer for passengers to use taxi services.”