Taxi Driver Online

22 Bucks taxi drivers stripped of licences over safety concerns

https://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/2 ... -concerns/

22 taxi and private-hire drivers had their licences revoked by Buckinghamshire Council in six months amid serious public-safety concerns.

The number increased from 18 during the same period a year earlier, according to a report presented to the council’s Licensing and Public Protection Committee.

The licences were revoked between October 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026.

Reasons across the cases included serious motoring offences and disqualifications, illegally plying for hire, insurance offences, repeated poor driving, dishonesty, non-disclosure, safeguarding concerns and medical issues.

Some cases also involved road collisions and allegations or convictions concerning serious offences.

Revocation is the most serious enforcement sanction available to the council and is reserved for cases in which allowing a licence to remain in force could compromise public safety.

Simon Gallacher, the council’s principal licensing officer, said officers could consider all relevant information when deciding whether a driver remained fit to hold a licence and were not restricted to criminal convictions.

He told councillors: “The legal test for officers making those decisions is whether, on the balance of probability, they can be satisfied that a driver remains fit to hold a licence.

“If the answer to that question is no, we’re obliged to take action in respect of the licence.”

The report said the 22 affected drivers represented approximately 0.7 per cent of the authority’s 3,427 licensed drivers.

Mr Gallacher said: “Although every revocation is significant, to put it in context, the 22 revocations is well below one per cent of our licensed drivers.

“The vast majority of our drivers, we know, are hardworking and law-abiding and don’t raise concerns.”

The council also refused 23 driver-licence applications during the period, down from 32 in the corresponding six months a year earlier.

The main reasons included using a mobile phone while driving, driving without insurance, speeding, accumulating enough penalty points to be disqualified and driving without due care and attention.

The report identified dishonesty and non-disclosure as recurring concerns, including applicants failing to declare convictions, previous refusals or warnings, licensing histories, medical changes or police investigations.

Other refused applications involved violent or drug-related offending, alleged inappropriate conduct and failures to meet the council’s policy requirements.

Officers also issued 122 penalty-point notices, 123 warning letters and 67 driver suspensions.

Mr Gallacher said most suspensions related to medical issues, such as drivers experiencing changes in their health which meant they no longer met the required standards.

He said suspensions in those circumstances were protective measures and “shouldn’t be interpreted as a finding of misconduct”.

Twenty vehicle licences were also revoked during the six months, predominantly because vehicles involved in accidents had not been repaired or demonstrated to be safe within the legally prescribed two-month period.

Seven of the 20 vehicle licences were revoked because the associated drivers had lost their licences after the council concluded they could no longer be considered fit and proper.

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IDFIMH

I think there's a similar piece about Bucks Council every year, or at least in the last couple of years or so

That said, although a lot of that is pretty routine stuff for trade anoraks, for those who don't know how it all works it's a very good summary regarding various bits and pieces

Indeed, and the increase from 18 to 22 revocations over the year in the context of over 3,000 total badges is what statisticians would probably call not statistically significant. And zero real conclusions should be drawn from the increase. Approximately