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PRIVATE hire bosses are calling for a knowledge test required by new drivers to be scrapped.

To gain a licence from Sefton Council to work as a private hire driver, people must pass the Topographical Knowledge Test which came into effect in 1993.

But Terry Evason, a director of Litherland-based SRC Taxis, says the test is causing a decrease in driver numbers, thereby reducing the amount of vehicles for hire on a 24-hour basis.

He has joined forces with Chris Carr, a director at Blueline Taxis in Maghull, to put their concerns to the council.

Terry has obtained figures showing a 33 per cent reduction in private hire driver applications between 1993 and 2004 – 3,050 drivers licensed in 1993 compared to 2,029 in 2004 – and by 2005, over 1,020 drivers had left the trade.

He said: “Other local authorities have found alternatives to the knowledge test.

“Many things have transpired over the past 14 years to render this test useless; the harnessing of new technologies by the surviving companies in Sefton has meant that drivers now enjoy equipment supplied by the operators that includes satellite navigation and GPS technology and A-Z references.

“The knowledge test has created a shortage of drivers which has in turn restricted the incomes of smaller firms and has put them at a great disadvantage in seeking to recruit drivers.

“Sefton must have procedures to ensure that applicants are fit and proper people, and the vast majority of all Sefton’s procedures are acknowledged as fair and just.

“How could anyone object to CRB checks, medical checks and the DVLA licence checks which are equally of paramount importance, but the same cannot be said for the much maligned knowledge test..”

However, a council spokesman said a review of taxi licensing is underway.

He added: “We are currently carrying out a comprehensive review of the taxi licensing portfolio which includes looking at the knowledge test and limitations on licence numbers.

“The review will involve consultation with existing trade representatives, individual taxi drivers, staff and other local authorities.”
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