Why taxi drivers in Kirklees won't have to pass an exam to prove they know their way around

TAXI drivers will NOT have to take tests proving they know their way around.

Kirklees Council last year said it was going to launch a London cabbie style “knowledge” exam.

But the plan was nothing to do with too many drivers getting lost.

It was proposed because licensing regulations that were relaxed last autumn have caused a rush of applications from drivers from outside of Kirklees.

Prior to October 2016, private-hire drivers could only be licensed by the area that they lived in.

But since then new rules allow them to be licensed by any local authority in England and Wales.

As a consequence quick thinking taxi bosses are sending new driver applications to councils with the least red tape.

Kirklees is the only council in West Yorkshire to not have a geography knowledge test.

It also has the quickest application process causing it to be inundated with new applications.

Taxi drivers are thought to be cynically exploiting the loophole to get a new licence and then never working in Kirklees.

The influx of applications is causing a backlog for staff trying to process existing Kirklees based drivers’ renewals.

In a bid to deter it, the council’s proposed knowledge test was set to be for people applying for a licence from out of the area.

But it has now been agreed that a knowledge test for out of area drivers only would be impractical.

Council officials say bringing it in for all drivers would be unfair, as Kirklees based drivers were not the root of the problem.

A new proposal to make drivers sign an agreement that the majority of their work will be within Kirklees is now being proposed.

It would allow enforcement action to be taken if the agreement was breached.

A spokesman for Kirklees Council said: “In December, the Licensing and Safety Committee agreed that the service could carry out a consultation about the possibility of introducing a geographical knowledge test for new applicants.

“The consultation showed however that there are more effective ways of managing applications from out of area drivers than introducing this test.

“New proposals will be put to the Licensing and Safety committee when it meets next week (July 18).”