Council Response To Non English Speaking Taxi Drivers E-mail

Below, is a the e-mail response of Calderdale council's licensing department, i also visited their office today and they told me that the taxi driver involved in last weeks death, did not have any problems with his English. If that's the case, then why did he need a interpreter in court? I will continue to look into this and find out what is going on, i still find it so hard to believe though, that there is no requirement to undergo tests for speaking English, in such a customer first environment.


Dear Councillor Bates

I apologise for the delay in responding to your email enquiry of 8th March 2011.

I am attaching for your information a copy of the Guidance Notes which are sent to any new applicant for either a Hackney Carriage or Private Hire Driver licence.

In summary you will note that any new driver must:

Be over 21
Have held a full DVLA licence for at least 2 years
Have had a medical examination to show they are fit to hold a licence
Have had a Criminal Records Bureau Check (CRB)
Passed a Driving Standards Agency (DSA) driving test, including wheelchair test if Hackney Carriage driver
Passed a Calderdale knowledge test

If anything is revealed on a CRB check that may bring into question the applicants fitness to hold a licence then that person is interviewed to establish the details of any convictions/cautions and a decision is made as to whether they are considered fit a proper to hold a licence.

The requirements for applicants to pass a DSA test and knowledge test were introduced in 2005 and 2008 respectively and were not applied to existing drivers, unless substantiated complaints about their driving or knowledge of the area were made.

There is no requirement to undergo a test of an applicants spoken English.  However if the applicants understanding of English is very poor, and likely to cause difficulties when dealing with customers, then we have advised them to delay their application until such time as they have undertaken an English speaking course.

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.