This report sets out recent developments within Shropshire Council’s hackney carriage and private hire licensing regime that aim to further strengthen improvements in safeguarding practice, in particular in relation to children, young people and vulnerable adults

72.1 Members received the report of the Senior Commissioner (Public Protection) which set out recent developments within Shropshire Council’s hackney carriage and private hire licensing regime which aimed to further strengthen improvements in safeguarding practice, in particular in relation to children, young people and vulnerable adults.

72.2 The Senior Commissioner (Public Protection) advised Members that substantial work on safeguarding practice had resulted in the proposed changes to the policy and the associated action plan.

72.3 A Member asked whether criminal checks on applicants from other countries were possible.  The Team Manager Operations Community Safety advised that where it was not possible to carry out DBS checks, the Embassy of the country of origin was contacted to obtain a character reference for the applicant.

72.4 Superintendent McWilliams welcomed the improvements to operational practice especially the more thorough and robust assessment of applications and asked what provisions were in place for the review of licences. The Senior Commissioner (Public Protection) advised that licences were reviewed after 12 months and then every three years and that there was provision to review a licence at any time where matters of concern had been raised.

72.5 A Member asked what provision was made for the spot checking of taxi drivers especially those that transported school children.  The Senior Commissioner (Public Protection) advised that specific enforcement was not carried out at schools but spot checks were regularly undertaken to ensure licences were being complied with.  The Team Manager Operations Community Safety advised Members that all drivers went through the same vetting process and all drivers wishing to transport school children had to be registered with the Passenger Transport Unit.  This Unit held contracts for school transport and removal from this register resulted in drivers not being allowed to hold contracts for transporting school children.

72.6  The Independent Chair SSCB welcomed the Council’s recognition of the “Jay” report and various correspondence from government and commended the work of public protection staff in developing the Policy.  She suggested the following amendments to the Policy:

·         That the third bullet point of section 1.2, be amended to give an explicit requirement for taxi drivers to report matters of concern which could relate to the safety of children/ vulnerable persons rather than to tackle child sexual exploitation and trafficking as she considered this to be the responsibility of the Police and other agencies rather than drivers directly.   She added that the usual practice was for agencies (in this instance, the Private Hire Operators) to have a suitably trained Designated Officer for Safeguarding to whom concerns would be reported and then passed on to the relevant authorities.  

·         She welcomed the provision of training but considered that all taxi drivers should be expected to complete some basic safeguarding awareness training.  She suggested that, given that drivers may not be willing to give up time for training, an e-learning package could be used.  

·         She queried the possibility of including some information about CSE in the Policy, possibly as an appendix.

Members welcomed these suggestions.

72.7    The Independent Chair SSCB, commented that the SSCB received regular assurance reports from agencies and Council departments and asked whether Public Protection could provide regular reports.  The Head of Public Protection agreed to do this.

72.8    A Member commented on the number of licence applications that had been refused by the Licensing Panel and whether there was a reason for this.  The Head of Public Protection commented that an emphasis had been placed on public safety and that he would prefer to take a hard line on applications and have them challenged in the Magistrates’ Court rather than licence an unsuitable driver.  He added that taxi firms were being encouraged to do preliminary checks themselves to prevent them putting forward applications from unsuitable applicants.

72.9    Resolved:

1.     That the following amendments to the draft Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Licensing Policy 2015 – 2019 be proposed to Cabinet: -

·         That the third bullet point of section 1.2, be amended to remove the requirement for prospective and licensed hackney carriage and private hire drivers and operators to tackle child sexual exploitation and trafficking and to replace this with an explicit requirement for such drivers and operators to report matters of concern which could relate to the safety of children/vulnerable persons to relevant authorities.

·         In order to facilitate the reporting, as referred to in the bullet point above, it is usual practice for agencies to have a suitably trained Designated Person for Safeguarding to whom concerns are reported and that this Designated Person has a responsibility to report such information to the relevant authorities.  Given that this is the case, it is proposed that the Policy requires Private Hire Operators to have a suitably trained Designated Person for Safeguarding who undertakes this role.

·         That all taxi drivers complete basic safeguarding awareness training. 

·         That an Appendix giving information about CSE be added to the Policy.

2.    That Public Protection provide regular Assurance reports to the Shropshire Safeguarding Children Board.