Taxi Driver Online

Scottish taxi and private hire firms are to be subjected to a new Government-led vetting scheme.


Ministers say it will reassure the public and help ensure legitimate drivers are not forced off the road by “rogues with links to organised crime”.

The scheme, being announced today by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, will mark out the responsible and reputable companies within the trade, with the aim of allowing customers to make an informed choice.

Mr MacAskill will unveil details of the accreditation scheme at the first-ever summit in Scotland to discuss the threat serious organised crime gangs pose to the trade. The meeting has been organised jointly by the Scottish Government, Cosla (the umbrella body for Scotland’s 32 local authorities) and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.

Held at the Strathclyde Police training facilities in East Kilbride, it will lay the foundation for local authority representatives and those involved in law enforcement to better share intelligence and information.

This will help them thwart gangsters intent on using the taxi business as a front for money laundering, drug dealing and other serious criminal activities.

It is intended that membership of the accreditation scheme will provide reassurance to customers and the wider public that firms have met a number of key criteria, which Mr MacAskill is expected to unveil today.

The move comes as Glasgow-based Network Private Hire goes to court to appeal a decision denying licences to more than 50 of its cars while it was the subject of complaints by Strathclyde Police over alleged links to criminality.

The complaints were dropped after a former shareholder severed all ties with the company. The Herald understands that Glasgow City Council is unlikely to contest the appeal.

Since the introduction of new legislation on the licensing of taxi and private hire radio bases, several firms have been all but put out of business after police found direct or covert links to criminals.

Mr MacAskill said: “The fact is that many of Scotland’s criminal gangs use, or try to use, a number of respectable businesses as a front for serious criminal activity. The taxi or private hire car trade is not alone, but there is plenty of evidence to suggest that it is particularly vulnerable to money laundering, given the nature of its business transactions.

“We want to protect the integrity of the taxi and private hire car trade. We want to ensure that only legitimate firms get business, whether it be through contacts with the public or private sector, or from hard-working individuals.

“This summit will be a key part of the implementation of the serious organised crime strategy and will help to raise awareness amongst participants of the existence and scale of organised crime groups within the taxi and private hire car industry, and provide a better understanding of the extent to which criminality within the trade is recognised by licensing authorities as an issue across Scotland.

“The development of a taxi industry accreditation scheme is the kind of measure that would provide reassurance to customers about the people they are doing business with, while ensuring hard-working, law-abiding taxi drivers are not being driven off the road by rogues with links to organised crime.”

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

I wonder how this will be financed. Oh, wait a minute, the drivers, of course. Silly me.

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My heart is heavy, but my consience clear,
I voted Yes, without any fear.

much the same on the beeb



Crackdown on Scottish 'gangster' taxi firms
Plans to crack down on criminal gangs who use taxi firms as a front for money laundering and drug dealing are to be unveiled by the Scottish government.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said an "accreditation scheme" would ensure that legitimate trade was "not run off the road by gangsters".

Under such a scheme "only those companies which are law-abiding would be out plying for hire", he said.

The minister said the current licence scheme checked individuals not firms.

Under his plans, firms could be given a "kite mark to show that they are viewed as legitimate and lawful".


"Clearly if firms don't have that mark it will be up to individuals to make their choice," Mr MacAskill said.

"We think everyone has a role here, especially those who give out public sector contracts, to make sure it is only the law-abiding hard-working cabbie that gets the fare."

Mr MacAskill is addressing the first ever summit in Scotland focusing on the threat organised crime poses to the taxi trade.

The summit, organised jointly by the Scottish government, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos), will bring together law enforcement and local authority representatives to share intelligence.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11763921

NB There's an audio interview in the above link

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My heart is heavy, but my consience clear,
I voted Yes, without any fear.

This Is good news for the Scottish Trade, i would go one step further and look at bringing in a Rating system similar to the rating system they have for hotels ect

How that system works i'm not sure but my point is surely some taxi company's are 5 star compared to others that are 1 star ect

I will be lobbying this idea on to our Justice Minister

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Alway's been about Tightening the Grip!

I agree on it being another good measure to ensure our trade's integrity (such as it is), but I would wait a while before the next (if any) step.

The booking office licence made sure the drivers and cars were legit. The accreditation scheme will ensure the company owners are as well. How much more reassurance do the public need?

Then we can start to promote our companies by standard, which in the main, is not too shabby round here.

_________________
My heart is heavy, but my consience clear,
I voted Yes, without any fear.