4 hours Ago
Councillors at Cambridge City Council supported the policy change, but officers have asked for more time to work out how it will be implemented. The aim of the policy change is to give people confidence that taxi drivers know how to safely load and transport wheelchair users, and give drivers themselves the confidence to do this from the training. Councillor Gerri Bird (Labour) said she welcomed the change, telling a licensing committee meeting this week (January 20) that there had been times her wheelchair had not been properly secured in a taxi.
(Image: Cambridge City Council) She said: “I know how I feel about this issue. I have been in many taxis, some have tied me in, some have not. “I am really pleased that we are going to do something about this at long last.
“The main thing I would like to see with the training is that they understand that every disability is different and all wheelchair users are different as well.” Cllr Bird also said it would be good to see wheelchair users involved in the training. Councillor Rosy Moore (Labour) agreed with this suggestion as she said it would help the taxi drivers to learn “from the real experts”.
Councillor Hugh Clough (Green Party) asked whether taxi drivers would have to pay for the mandatory training. Council officers said they did not know at this stage, as they still needed to work out the details of how the training would be delivered. Three other policy changes were also put forward for consideration at the committee meeting.
These included the requirement for drivers to conduct daily safety checks of their taxi; the requirement for private hire vehicles to continue to display operator signs; and the requirement for people to need a full driving licence for more than two years before applying to be a licensed taxi driver. RECOMMENDED READING: Cambridge Warehouse skatepark is now open in Coldham’s Lane Councillor Tim Bick (Liberal Democrat) said he supported the proposed policy changes, but raised some questions about the daily checks. He suggested that some of the checks proposed, such as checking the tyre tread, did not need to be checked daily.
Cllr Bick asked if a separate weekly or monthly check list could be created alongside the daily check list for the items that did not need to be checked as frequently. He said they did not want to end up with drivers taking a “tick box approach” when completing the daily check list. Councillor Russ McPherson (Labour) said he agreed that if the daily check list was made “too arduous” drivers may not complete it properly.
Officers said they would be happy to take this suggestion away and to develop the idea further..
