Government action required as licences still being held by taxi and private hire vehicle drivers with convictions for violent offences

 

National Personal Safety Day is an annual event that raises awareness of personal safety issues and recommends ways to reduce violence, aggression, and abuse. Established by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which campaigns to reduce risk and prevalence of abuse, aggression, and violence - with a specific focus on stalking and harassment, it is supported by Peoplesafe, market leaders in personal safety technology.

This year it focusses on Steering Towards Safety: a review of passenger safety on the public transport network including the alarming gaps in taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) driver licensing law, allowing individuals with violent convictions to continue obtaining licences. Despite repeated calls to action by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust since 2014 and the introduction of the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022, inconsistencies across licensing authorities persist, putting passengers at risk.

The new government has made it a key promise that it will halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade. It is vital that perpetrators’ ability to use public transport, including transport such as taxis and PHVs, to commit these crimes is reduced.

A recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust showed that drivers with convictions, including for violent crimes such as assault, battery and harassment, were still being licensed despite licensing authorities knowing about the offences. A new YouGov and Suzy Lamplugh Trust survey demonstrates that these concerns are widely shared, with over 30% of respondents feeling unsafe when using these services. Over 70% of respondents stated that the introduction of a legal requirement preventing drivers with a history of aggressive and/or abusive behaviour from obtaining a licence would make them feel safer.

Key Findings:

• An estimated 90 licences were granted to drivers with convictions for violent offences, and a further 68 were granted to drivers holding various traffic, driving or vehicle related convictions (relating to an estimated 368 licences issued to drivers with convictions across 28 local authorities).
• 34.4% of respondents to our survey stated they did not know the difference between a taxi and a PHV. Public confusion over the difference between taxis and PHVs leads to further safety risks as people can be taken advantage of by non-licensed drivers or drivers acting outside the boundaries of their licence.
• A significant proportion of the public (30%) reported feeling unsafe during journeys, with 15% of women citing sexual harassment as a concern.

 

The Trust is therefore continuing to call for immediate government action to introduce national minimum standards in legislation for driver licensing and for the inclusion of drivers as a regulated activity, ensuring stricter background checks, as for teachers and other regulated professions. As not all licencing authorities were able to tell us how many of their currently licenced drivers hold convictions and for which offences, it is hard to know the scale of the problem. But while the proportion of these drivers maybe small overall the Suzy Lamplugh Trust believes that legal loopholes should be closed to prevent any driver who poses a risk to passengers being able to obtain a licence. To further close those loopholes, licensing authorities should be given powers to enforce national standards for all licence holders operating in their authority, and not be restricted to those licensed by their own authority. 

 

Additionally, taxis and PHVs form part of a larger ecosystem of public transport being used every day across the UK. It is necessary to understand the call for stricter licensing requirements for taxi and PHV drivers as part of a wider campaign to draw attention to and combat the rise of VAWG occurring across public transport.  We believe that employers should take into account employee safety as they travel on public transport or via taxi/PHV for work related purposes, particularly if they are working alone. As such, it is imperative that employers publish their personal safety policies and ensure they have safety procedures such as tracing systems and lone worker devices that enable them to know the whereabouts and safety of employees at all times while working or travelling for work.

 

Recommendations:

 To Government:

1. National minimum standards for licensing taxis and PHV drivers to be introduced in law.
2. Clear policy to outline which crimes and behaviours should result in licence revocation and refusal.
3. Inclusion of taxi and PHV drivers as a regulated activity to enable certain drivers to be barred from the profession.
4. Licensing officer enforcement powers for checks on all drivers including those not licensed by their own authority

 To Licensing Authorities:

5. Implement government statutory guidance and adopt the Institute of Licensing Suitability Guidance

 To Employers:

6. Employers should establish a personal safety culture in their workplace to eliminate harmful and illegal behaviours, including addressing employees’ safety whilst travelling for work as part of their published workplace safety policies.

 

Emma Lingley-Clark, Interim CEO of Suzy Lamplugh Trust, stated, “These findings show that passengers are being put at risk due to inconsistent implementation of government guidance on safe licensing. It is vital therefore that the government introduce national standards in law to mandate the prevention of drivers with a violent history from being allowed to operate. This should be done in line with a wider push to tackle violence against women and girls across the public transport network in the UK.”

 

Naz Dossa, Peoplesafe CEO, said: “It is wholly unacceptable that employees feel unsafe when they’re commuting and travelling for work. Businesses can and should do more to make their people safe. Existing legislation, or lack of, is failing the UK’s workforce across all sectors and it is increasingly clear that employers still have a significant part to play in delivering the basics. This includes extending duty of care to the commute, whether that’s a train, bus, taxi or walking.  There must be better awareness and conversation around this issue, with legislative lead from government. We also need to shift the dial on the importance of employee personal safety by supporting businesses to act in the best way possible, and by giving employees greater peace of mind through recognised standards. We will continue to work with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust to continue to call on employers and government to work together to achieve a step change in how people, across all work sectors, are protected.”

 

Liam O'Callaghan and Elaine Pickford, Brother and Mother to Sian O'Callaghan (Victim of Christopher Halliwell, licensed Private Hire Vehicle Driver) said: "Myself and Elaine are committed to build on the foundations already achieved by ourselves, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and the government though the Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles Act 2022 which resulted in the improved sharing of data between local authorities on drivers. We now need government action to further reduce the gaps in safety checks by ensuring a mandatory national framework to prevent dangerous drivers from being able to obtain licenses and potentially abusing their position of trust to commit further offences against passengers."

 

Jim Button, President of the Institute of Licensing, said: “There is no doubt that the standards applied by licensing authorities in relation to determining whether a person is safe and suitable to be a taxi driver vary hugely across England and Wales. The Institute of Licensing supports call for legislation in this area. In the meantime, it encourages all licensing authorities to adopt the Guidelines published by the IoL. It is vital that applicants’ and licensees’ history of concerning behaviour is taken into account by licensing authorities: they should have a clear policy detailing which crimes and behaviours will result in licence refusal or revocation, and that should be adhered to.”

Methodology  

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 4,232 adults. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).  

Case Study:

In an additional study commissioned by Peoplesafe, 69% of people who work in the professional services sector fear for their safety on the commute on a daily basis. 1 in 4 feel particularly unsafe travelling home after working late, rising to 1 in 3 for women.

78% of people working in the Professional Services sector work late at least occasionally and 30% work late at least once a week, with figures revealing that 50% of women feel discouraged from doing so due to personal safety fears, compared to 42% of men.

ENDS

Authors of the report, representatives of Suzy Lamplugh Trust and Peoplesafe, and supporters are available for media comment by arrangement, please contact:

Suzy Lamplugh Trust: [email protected] or [email protected]/ Tel: 07747 611 308 or 07900 915759

Editors Notes 

About the Suzy Lamplugh Trust 

Suzy Lamplugh Trust is a national personal safety charity set up after the disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh over 35 years ago. Our mission is to reduce the risk of violence, aggression and abuse through campaigning, education and support. Suzy Lamplugh Trust runs the National Stalking Helpline, the only stalking helpline service for all victims across the UK, as well as the national advocacy service. The National Stalking Helpline has received over 75,000 contacts from victims of stalking since its inception in 2010. We have also developed Suzy’s Charter for Workplace Safety as a framework for employers to embed a culture of personal safety at work. Suzy Lamplugh Trust campaigns for better protections for victims of violence, aggression, harassment and stalking in policy and law. 

www.suzylamplugh.org 

 

About Peoplesafe 

Peoplesafe is the largest provider of employee safety technology in the world. Our service protects your most valuable assets: your people - wherever they are and whenever they need it by integrating state-of-the-art technology with a dedicated, 24/7 Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC).

Getting emergency help faster than 999 is our mission. We deliver on this by answering SOS alarms in 3 seconds through our fully accredited ARC which has a direct line to police forces across the UK. This industry-leading service is why we are trusted to protect over 250,000 users and work with some of the world’s largest organisations, such as the NHS, BT and Capita.

www.peoplesafe.co.uk