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Liverpool City Council moves to tighten taxi drug-testing regime after 12 drivers lose licences
Liverpool City Council is moving to strengthen drug testing within its taxi and private hire licensing regime after 12 licensed drivers had their licences revoked following tests that identified drug use.
The authority has operated a drug-testing policy for licensed drivers for around seven years. Newly reported council figures show that approximately 630 drivers, equivalent to about 13% of the city’s nearly 4,800 licensed taxi and private hire drivers, have been tested during that period.
Twelve drivers returned non-negative results and had their licences revoked with immediate effect, according to information reported from the council. Cocaine and cannabis were among the substances identified through the testing programme.
The figures have emerged as Liverpool reviews the way its testing regime operates amid an increase in referrals concerning licensed drivers. The existing policy allows the council to conduct testing both randomly and where intelligence gives officers grounds for concern about possible drug use.
Liverpool’s published licensing policy states that a positive drug test, or failure to comply with a request to undergo testing, may result in suspension or revocation of a driver’s licence. The policy is intended to help the authority determine whether licensed drivers continue to meet its suitability requirements.
The Department for Transport’s statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards separately advise licensing authorities that information raising concerns over whether a driver remains a fit and proper person can provide grounds for suspension or revocation. National guidance also recommends lengthy periods before licences are granted following certain drug-related convictions.
The figures indicate that licence revocations following drug tests have involved a small proportion of Liverpool’s overall licensed-driver population. The available information does not establish the prevalence of drug use among all drivers because only around 13% of the licensed population has been tested, and testing has included intelligence-led cases rather than a purely representative sample.
Any expansion or revision of the testing process could increase the number of licensed drivers required to provide samples and place greater emphasis on compliance with requests from licensing officers. The precise changes to Liverpool’s procedures and their implementation timetable have not yet been established in the publicly accessible material reviewed.
Liverpool also requires licensed taxi drivers to report relevant arrests, convictions, cautions and fixed penalty notices. Drivers receiving a new conviction are required to obtain a new Disclosure and Barring Service check, according to the council’s licensing guidance.
