Taxi Driver Online

Burnley cabbies get more time to take tests


A STAY of execution has been ordered for new taxi drivers who faced losing their badges over an exams funding crisis.

Last September Burnley Council licensing bosses approved a new regime requiring all newly-appointed cabbies to take and pass a BTEC customer care course within six months of starting the job.

But Learning and Skills Council funding for the courses, offered by Runshaw College in Leyland, has been suspended because of a national overspend.

Council licensing manager Peter Henderson says in a council committee report: “(This) would result in the unfair revocation of the licences of those drivers who have been unable to successfully complete the course within the allowed time frame of six months, due to the interruption to funding arrangements.

“The LSC new financial year begins in August this year and it is expected that funding will resume at this time.”

Remaining taxi drivers, either private hire or hackney carriage, have until October 2011 to complete the same course.

New cabbies must also pass a local knowledge test before being allowed out onto the borough’s roads.

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IDFIMH

I take it that you are not in favour of these courses and qualifications.

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Grandad,

As far as I am aware the Btec doesn't attract funding from the LSC anymore because it has been made madatory and as such does not attract funding. If you do a vocational course at college you can apply for a grant through the college if you are on low income to cover the cost of tuition fees. I can't see how this is any different, unless of course it's only provided by training companies in Burnley, and, as previously pointed out do the NVQ and it's all free.

There are schemes around for the unemployed to obtain money to cover costs to get into work and training is one of those costs. If the council had done it properly and insisted that the new drivers took the course before they gave them the badge (which is the point of a Btec) some may have been able to take advantage of those schemes.

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Ha ha ha I knew it wouldn't be long. I've had a go with an assesor this afternoon on our rank, I tired to rip him a new backside but he skuttled off in a hurry.

Great fan of higher standards for drivers, but these courses are a waste of money and a waste of time.

Which is why many councils just love them.

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IDFIMH

So the basis for you to call these courses and qualification a SCAM is that you think they are a waste of money and a waste of time. So anything that you don't agree with is a SCAM regardless. Well at least that confirms my belief that have a tunnelled view on anything you disagree with.

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Grandad,

No what I class as a scam is something that cost the trade, or the tax payer, £1,200-£1,500, for a piece of paper and a few letter after your name.

What could a driver get out of these courses that they couldn't get from an experienced local driver for less than £100?

Other than a few letters after their name.

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IDFIMH

I've said this over and over again 'if the trade isn't happy with the course the trade should have a go at getting the course right'. Do they, NO, they just moan about it which is typical of the taxi trade. They let everything go on around them and don't have anything constructive to say until it's going to cost them money or pi$$ them off. The trade should be way more active than it is. The trade should be leading the way instead of following behind like a load grumpy old sheep.

The other thing I don't understand is why the taxi trade seem to think that they should get their qualifications for nothing all other vocations have to pay for qualifications pi$$ poor or otherwise

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

But what do you need to drive a cab apart from your licences, knowing your area, being able to go the shortest route to where your punter wants to go, being able to converse, and be polite with them, helping them if they have a disability, being able to count to give change,
Its just common sense, so why bother with a worthless piece of paper that says you can do all of the above, the piece of paper does not mean a dam thing

These qualifications don't come for nothing, someone is paying, be that the driver or the tax payer.

They are not value for money, £1,200 - £1,500 is crazy money for a few days work, which is all the testers are doing if you times that by 20/30/40 on each course.

Say there are 30 on a course, that's £45,000 for the hire of a few class-rooms, a few text books and a few days work for the testers. Is that value for money?

But the worst bit in my eyes in that it teaches those who have been in the trade nothing that they haven't seen/done/heard a thousand times.

This whole scam is a disgrace.

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IDFIMH

Sussex I don't disagree that some training providers aren't providing properly and they are scamming it. The Btec costs at most £150 and is supposed to be delivered over 20 hrs at least in a classroom. That works out at £7.50 per hour per student. Most classrooms are not full with 20/30/40 odd students.

I've been in a classroom and I've seen them teach the course and you would be surprised at how unprepared some people are for the taxi trade.

With regards to the tax payer paying for the NVQ I'm a tax payer as are you so I've been paying for college courses for years and nobody seemed to care then. The trade only care now about how much the tax payer is paying cos it's them that have to do the course.

It's a course that's not up to scratch admittedly but as I keep saying 'what does the trade expect when it doesn't contribute'

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Common sense is not all that common, everyone lets that one roll off of the tongue, but what is common sense to you may not be to others!

The Council down here as I see it, is going to use it (the course) as a lever to force drivers to take it or suffer their earnings going down by stopping them going into restricted areas i.e precincts! and only allowing those who have taken it into the precincts to trade.

In effect they will be giving favourable trading conditions to those who take part.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

I can see a time when large account customers like councils and schools will insist on all taxi/PH drivers servicing their contracts to have a BTEC/NVQ.

I suppose if drivers can then see a benefit i.e. loads more work, then maybe it will succeed. But I'm getting the feeling that the gravy train is slowing down.

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IDFIMH

I do not suppose that the Councils/L.As have given it a thought for one minute that a lot of boroughs have a massive ethnic amount of drivers.

They either cannot or will not take these Btecs/Nvqs so where are the councils going to be re contracts and getting people off of the precincts.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

An even better reason to have something in place to ensure the quality of the driver without being prejudice. All drivers do whatever course is in place regardless of their ethinic background. If drivers can't do the course they will either have to brush up so they can or find an alternative job. Taxi driving shouldn't just be about the quality of the vehicles it should be about the quality of the driver too.

Just go out and ask the public what they think of taxi drivers and driving a taxi for a living. You'll probably get a load of people saying something along the lines of 'taxi drivers are robbing ba$tards' and 'I wouldn't do the job for a big clock'. Go figure

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!