How to wipe out the London Minicab trade with the stroke of a pen.
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| Would-be taxi drivers face English test http://taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5792 |
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| Author: | JD [ Sun Mar 18, 2007 11:04 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Would-be taxi drivers face English test |
Yorkshire Evening Post March 7, 2007 Would-be taxi drivers face English test FROM today anyone wanting to become a taxi or minicab driver in Leeds will have to prove they can speak basic English before being allowed to apply for a licence. The move comes after complaints from the public and from within the trade that some of the hackney carriage and private hire drivers working in the city struggled with speaking, reading or even writing the language. There are also fears that with the recent influx of migrant workers from eastern Europe there is a pressing need to ensure a basic literacy standard across the industry. From today, any new driver who applies for a licence will first have to pay for a £15 test which covers literacy, language and numeracy. If they fail the 70 per cent pass mark, they will have to get extra lessons or educate themselves before being allowed to re-take the test. There are currently 4,200 private hire and 1,100 taxi drivers in the Leeds district. In the last six months the council received 500 applications for private hire licences. The tests were approved by Leeds City Council's Licensing & Regulatory Panel yesterday and are backed by the taxi and minicab trade bodies and the council's own licensing department. They will be carried out by independent assessors at the city college Leeds Thomas Danby. Des Broster, the council's principal lead officer for taxi and private hire, told the YEP: "There are no exceptions to it (the test). It's not just about the Asian community or people from Eastern Europe. "If somebody fails we would look to give them a sufficient time-span to pass the test, but if they don't then they will be refused the chance to apply for a licence. "Licensing officers aren't going to get involved in conducting any tests at all. It needs to be done by an educational establishment which is why Thomas Danby is involved." The pass mark is similar to the national Adult Literacy Test standard. Those who fail, and are unemployed, will be offered free lessons under the Government's Skills for Life programme. Even if they pass, applicants still have to get through a DSA driving test and Criminal Records Bureau check before finding out if they've got a licence. Current licence holders are exempt. Mr Broster added: "There is what's known as grandfather rights. Those members in the trade who are already existing licence holders do not have to take the test." At yesterday's meeting, panel chair Ronald Feldman (Conservative, Alwoodley) said: "To me, if somebody wants to be a driver he should be able to understand basic English. "We're not expecting them to be Shakespeare, but have a basic knowledge of where they're going and what it's going to cost. To learn the language of the city where they live is a bonus." Commenting about the test, he added: "There are two types of English - English and Yorkshire English. I hope they learn a bit of both." charles.heslett@ypn.co.uk ______________________ |
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| Author: | GBC [ Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:36 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
How to wipe out the London Minicab trade with the stroke of a pen.
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| Author: | TDO [ Mon Mar 19, 2007 5:16 am ] |
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Well if the test covers numeracy then I hope they include a bit of multiple regression, which would see off most of the applicants. But the added bonus would be that those who passed would be the only people in the trade who'd understand how many more taxis are required to meet a SUD test 
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| Author: | studley [ Tue Mar 20, 2007 1:13 am ] |
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That would shut down the OFT as well |
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| Author: | kermit2482 [ Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:50 am ] |
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studley wrote: That would shut down the OFT as well
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| Author: | allo allo [ Sat Mar 24, 2007 9:41 am ] |
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Joking apart , we're in a service industry. I would have thought that having sufficient english to communicate with customers was as basic as needing a licensed vehicle. What language are our vehicle/driver conditions printed in? ENGLISH It really isn't rocket science IMHO. If you can't read and speak english then find another job. There are some enlightened councils which have a condition to this effect, but many are so PC they are terrified of upsetting the RRC on a customer service issue which has NOTHING to do with skin colour or religion or goodness knows what else 
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| Author: | Sussex [ Sat Mar 24, 2007 6:08 pm ] |
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I think 99.9% of licensed drivers think an english test is a good thing. The only people who seem to be against it are the greedy operators desperate for drivers. 
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| Author: | Sussex [ Sat Mar 24, 2007 6:41 pm ] |
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This tale sort of puts the meat on the bone a bit. http://www.portsmouthtoday.co.uk/ViewAr ... tionID=455 |
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