17 Rotherham taxi licences approved by Lancashire council
A LANCASHIRE council which licenses taxi drivers from outside its borders has confirmed it has approved applications from 17 Rotherham drivers.
Rotherham commissioner Mary Ney has conceded that drivers are able to apply for licences in other boroughs to avoid Rotherham’s new strict regulations, including compulsory CCTV cameras in cabs.
Rossendale Council said it had not done anything wrong licensing cabbies from elsewhere.
Rotherham Politics 
Well blow me, they don’t want much do they, moving operations to Rossendale to avoid paying and playing by Rotherhams rules. They are off the hook again, what have they got to hide?
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Absolutely ridiculous. If we have regulations it should apply to anyone driving in our area. Another fiddle.
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There shoving 2 fingers up to the Rotherham taxi license and I’ll bet more than that to there passengers . Nca should be investigating these 17 drivers immediately
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The sooner that our new PM gets national licensing rules for taxi drivers in place the better. If these drivers have nothing to hide why are they going to Rossendale ? All I can suggest is that people refuse to use the vehicle if it is not carrying a Rotherham plate or specify a local vehicle when making a booking !
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Mary Ney could stop any ‘out of towners’ by means of the contract terms?
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This dodge will help them to evade justice? Not a bit of it! Those who go to Rossendale do so for a reason. Whatever it is, the forces of law and order, the income tax authorities, the VAT man and the benefits agency, should all take a close interest in them in particular? There is much to find!
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I’m more than surprised that Rossendal Council is doing this considering they promote themselves as a council who carry out checks on drivers who apply for PHV licences.
‘…………….As part of the licensing process, it is essential that a full Enhanced DBS Disclosure is completed prior to the badge being issued.
Prior to applying for your Enhanced Disclosure, applicants must ensure they have the following documents: Driving Standards Agency (DSA) Certificate showing successful completion of the practical taxi test (the private hire assessment).
A Group 2 Medical Certificate issued by your GP dated within the last month. This medical must be group 2 and it must be issued by your own doctor. Medicals issued by another medical practitioner will not be accepted.’
https://www.personnelchecks.co.uk/dbs-(crb)-checks/hackney-carriageprivate-hire-driver-licences-rossendale-borough-council/
Unless it’s all about the money; The cost of the check is £62.00 Inc VAT, and payment must be made in advance by credit or debit card.
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What must be more revealing, are these licences from recent months, as I do believe they have been a part of the Rotherham trade since before the Jay Report.
Also what about Gedling licensed vehicles/drivers, or am I loosing the plot.
Oh my god…where does that leave…Uber! Anyone from anywhere.
Real truth is any operater has to keep details of all employees, and jobs circulated to the same, and by law they have to keep records for any such for a number of years. It appears to be the same for any authority under phv operators licence conditions (apply for a licence RMBC).
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Hotspot not sure about them being in Rotherham before jay report only 4 licences were granted to drivers living in Rotherham by June 2013 by rossendale licences, can I ask why do you think the drivers applied in rossendale for the licence
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Easier to obtain? But DBS is still prevalent, either banned drivers from RMBC have had a lazy record in the paper work department, or have had licences revoked because of higher threshold of driving standards, somehow someone who has a CSE mark against their name, as Ney is suggesting can apply somewhere else, to honestly tell you I don’t buy it. All LGA’s have been told of the CSE constraints, and what to do with such applicants.
The thing that I can’t understand, a taxi driver needs to be a fit and proper person, the local authorities are free to barr anyone who has a criminal record and are free from the constraints of offenders and barring act, apparently.
What about stats from Gedling anyone.
A little bit of respect to all Rotherham licensed taxi drivers, on the whole provide a good service, and on the
laws of probability the fittest have survived.
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http://www.gedling.gov.uk/businesslicensing/a-zoflicences/hackneycarriageprivatehirelicensing/
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I believe there is at least one other council being used by at least one Rotherham taxi firm in a systematic attempt to evade CCTV. Research is continuing. As for the reasons for evasion, tax and benefit fraud is just one aspect. Protecting the child rape industry and drug delivery is probably the driving factor.
Re the fittest surviving the Rotherham cull, given there were probably 300-400 perpetrators, at least half taxi drivers (based on evidence from survivors, whistle blowers, NCA statements etc) and some 67 licence suspensions we can assume 100 or so child rapists still driving cabs in Rotherham. A source saw drivers from one firm chatting up young girls. The only reason I don’t name and shame is absence of proof they were definitely under 16.
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I should clarify my last statement. I meant that there are likely one hundred child rapists driving Rotherham licensed cabs. With out of town licences and sharing of non CCTV cabs between perps, almost all the perpetrators in the taxi trade will still be driving cabs servicing the Rotherham area.
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Wonder which companies employ these, rather suspect, Rossendale registered drivers? We should be told!
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Maybe the only way left for the citizen, is for the naming and shaming route? The world has changed, we are no longer prepared to be taken advantage of!
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I’ve read and re-read some of the comments above and it seems to me an obvious point has been missed.
A DBS check will only show if an applicant has a criminal record. ‘Street rumours’ and conjecture are not grounds for refusal of a PHV licence. Unless a driver has been tried and convicted he/she is free to apply for a licence.
It is IMV unethical and immoral for a driver to apply in another town for a PHV licence but, as commented by Commissioner Ney, there is no national standard for PHV’s and until there is we are at the mercy of unscrupulous drivers.
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Mrs Ney said there was a “cause for concern” after looking at the records of 67 drivers but not all of them would fail the “fit and proper test”
The suspension of about 40 taxi drivers in the borough of Rotherham is aimed at restoring public confidence, according to the commissioner overseeing the service.
“A total of 67 drivers were found to be potentially in breach of new ‘fit and proper person’ tests”
CSE? it could be anything.
Rotherham taxi drivers’ suspensions to aid public ‘confidence’ says commissioner – BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-35841097
Mary Ney said the majority of drivers were “good, hard-working people”.
I wonder if the additional training the taxi drivers have received, has any significance on recognising CSE, and how to help anyone who would be perceived to be at such risk.
Taxi drivers!
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All the Rotherham Taxi Licensing Dept has to do is asked Rossendale for the names and addresses of these Taxi Drivers and check againist there records. If these drivers are suspected of anything, then Rotherham could get an injunction, like Birmingham did, which would require less burden of proof. This would pervert them from working in Rotherham. They could also liaisle with other councils and stop them with this injunction.
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DBs checks are all well and good if people have committed previous offences. The taxi drivers accused of CSE have never been prosecuted, that’s why they’re still driving around. Anyone going out of town for a taxi licence needs looking at in detail, and the companies they work for. Got something to hide?
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Media releases | Local Government Association
http://www.local.gov.uk/media-releases/-/journal_content/56/10180/7145208/NEWS
CSE disruption orders.
Record by chief superintendents, from magistrates and law courts as well.
Probably can be initiated by NCA as well.
And LGA’s can get them ordered.
I don’t know who is failing who, even if there was a probable cause, one should be handed out, they have been used locally.
Some how I don’t believe that it won’t be recorded on a DBS.
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@Hotspot
‘Organisations who are entitled to use the DBS checking service can ask successful job applicants to apply for one of the following types of check depending on the job role:
standard check – details of an individual’s convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings recorded on police central records and includes both ‘spent’ and ‘unspent’ convictions
enhanced check – the same details as a standard check, together with any information held locally by police forces that it is reasonably considered might be relevant to the post applied for
enhanced with a barred list check:
child barred list information is only available for those individuals engaged in regulated activity with children and a small number of posts as listed in the Police Act regulations, for example prospective adoptive parents
adult barred list is only available for those individuals engaged in regulated activity with adults and a small number of posts as listed in the Police Act regulations
child and adult barred list is only available for those individuals engaged in regulated activity with both vulnerable groups including children and a small number of posts as listed in the Police Act regulations
adult first – an individual can be checked against the DBS adult barred list while waiting for the full criminal record check to be completed’
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/disclosure-and-barring-service-criminal-record-checks-referrals-and-complaints
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Exempted.
Taxi drivers and other transport workers,
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
Enhanced DBS is what Rotherham has stipulated as a condition of licence, I’m hoping that it would be the same for the other LGA’s.
All taxi drivers are exempted from the offenders rehab act, ie their position of trust is so great, that no portion of the DBS is spent, and does make a sizeable portion of the “fit and proper test”.
As far as i believe, Solicitor’s need it only at the outset of one’s profession, taxi drivers all the time.
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@Hotspot.
You make some valid points particularly about other LA’s using enhanced DBS checks.
Unfortunately, as I posted previously if a driver has never been convicted of a serious offence a DBS check is fruitless.
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“if a driver has never been convicted of a serious offence a DBS check is fruitless”
True! But also true is the power to mark anyone who is doubted, CSE disruption orders also have the element of being placed on the sex offenders register.
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Was created for suspicion as well, and is used.
Sexual Harm Prevention Order granted in Rotherham | South Yorkshire Police
http://www.southyorks.police.uk/news-syp/sexual-harm-prevention-order-granted-rotherham
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How can anyone in Rotherham willingly use a Pakistani taxi – turning a blind eye to what’s happened , encouraging and subsidising these disgusting reprobates?
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