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Scotland could change taxi licensing law after First Minister backs review of rules for convicted sex offenders
John Swinney has opened the door to changing Scotland’s taxi licensing law after the controversy surrounding a convicted rapist whose operator licences were considered by The Highland Council.
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday 22 September, Swinney said he was “very open” to considering an amendment to licensing legislation after Highlands and Islands MSP Morven-May MacCallum called for convicted sex offenders to be barred from holding taxi licences.
MacCallum raised the issue during First Minister’s Questions following the continuing fallout from Highland Council’s handling of two taxi operator licences held by David Brown.
Brown was jailed earlier this year after being convicted of raping an 18-year-old passenger.
The MSP asked Swinney to commit to reviewing Scotland’s licensing laws and introducing legislation preventing convicted sex offenders from holding taxi licences. She argued that the existing system should not have allowed the possibility of the licences continuing.
Swinney said he agreed “unreservedly” with MacCallum’s concerns about the handling of the Highland case. He told MSPs that there should never have been any question about continuing a licence in a case of that nature.
More significantly for Scotland’s wider taxi licensing system, the First Minister acknowledged that the issue raised a question about how much discretion Parliament should leave with individual licensing authorities. Scottish licensing legislation currently gives councils substantial discretion when determining individual cases.
Swinney said he was open to MacCallum’s proposal being considered as an amendment to licensing legislation, while stopping short of committing the Scottish Government to a specific Bill, statutory prohibition or timetable. He said the Government would consider the point put to him.
The call represents a potentially significant escalation from the local controversy in Highland. The issue has now reached the question of whether Scotland’s national licensing framework should impose tighter statutory restrictions rather than leaving decisions involving serious sexual convictions primarily to individual licensing authorities.
Highland Council last week approved an independent external review of its licensing arrangements following the Brown case. That review can examine the application of the fit and proper person test, police objections, safeguarding evidence, governance and the advice available to councillors.
The latest intervention at Holyrood creates a separate route through which changes could ultimately apply across Scotland.
No legislative proposal has yet been published, and Swinney did not commit to an automatic lifetime prohibition for every sexual offence. Important questions therefore remain over which convictions any future restriction might cover, whether it would apply to driver, operator and vehicle licences, how historic convictions would be treated and whether councils would retain discretion in exceptional circumstances.
For the Scottish taxi and private hire industry they should not treat a national rule change as decided, but the First Minister’s response means legislative reform is now under active political consideration at the highest level of the Scottish Government.
