In 2005 the DSA must have written to all local authorities in the area advertising their standards test because it would appear that both Adur and Brighton got the message simultaniously? In April 2005 they both decided to seek opinions about implementation of the test. The rest is history.
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News releases
Testing times for taxi-drivers
Ref : 05/042 • Date : 26-04-2005
Taxi-drivers in Adur could be asked to take an extra driving test if Adur Council adopt a policy it is now considering. The council wants to know if the public thinks this is a good idea and is asking for people's opinions.
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) design the test for licensed taxi-drivers. The test includes the practices and manoeuvres that professional drivers are likely to use.
The DSA say 45 local authorities have adopted the test and report the pass rate for 2003 - 2004 was 50 per cent and costs £48.85 for private hire and hackney drivers and £57 for wheelchair accessible vehicles. If the policy is agreed then taxi-drivers will be required to take the test to prove they are a 'fit and proper' person to hold a taxi licence.
The council will also have to decide wheter it will apply to new drivers or existing drivers in certain circumstances.
The council wants to hear the views of those affected: licensed drivers, their passengers and the public. Please send these to :
* Bill Nailen, Licensing Officer, Civic Centre, Ham Road, Shoreham
or send licensing an e-mail
Closing date for comments is 6 June 2005. A report for the licensing committee can be found on
www.adur.gov.uk. Copies of the report can also be requested.
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April 13, 2005
HEADLINE: Testing time for taxi drivers
BYLINE: Adrian Kwintner (adrian.kwintner@theargus.co.uk)
Taxi drivers will be brushing up on their motoring skills when a tough new testing system is introduced.
From August anyone applying for a cab licence in Brighton and Hove may have to take an extra 40-minute test to ensure new drivers give passengers value for money. Current requirements for hackney carriage and private hire licenses in the city include a criminal records check a full medical references the knowledge test and the routes test.
But new drivers could also be required to pass the additional test from the Driving Standards Agency (DSA). Existing licensed drivers who accrue more than four penalty points within two years would also be required to take the test. Brighton taxi driver Brian Ralfe 60 also the Independent Pink Party's parliamentary candidate for Hove and Portslade said most drivers are good but anything that gives customers a better service is a good idea. He said: "A lot of taxi drivers are not courteous enough or helpful enough. Some drivers should also improve the way they are dressed and the state of their cars. After all we are the first point of contact with the city when visitors arrive at Brighton or Hove stations."
Danny Bunch 45 of Woodingdean has been driving taxis in Brighton for 18 years. He said: "Anything that improves the safety of customers is a bonus. There are a lot of people not just taxi drivers who would not pass their driving test now after all the bad habits they have picked up over the years." Union TGWU Brighton and Hove Taxi Branch supports the proposals for the DSA test.
Branch secretary Mick Hildreth also manager of City Cabs said: "We think it will raise standards of drivers. A lot of people have got a good standard but standards have slipped abit over the last few years. Brighton and Hove City Council's licensing committee is expected to approve the test when it meets tomorrow. Piloted in Leeds in 1999 the test has since been rolled out to 52 other local authorities including Crawley Eastbourne and Horsham. A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "This test will help raise the skill standards of private hire and hackney carriage drivers."
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