§ 109. Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what research he has conducted into the extent to which drivers seeking licences to drive hackney carriages and private hire carriages have failed to disclose information relating to(a) rape offences and (b) other criminal convictions; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FreemanI have been asked to reply.
No such research has been undertaken. Outside London, district councils issue licences to drive hackney carriages and private hire vehicles and since 1 April 1992 they have been able to request a police check of the possible criminal record of applicants for licences. Only each individual council, after obtaining criminal record details, would be able to gauge the extent to which licence holders had failed to disclose previous convictions. I do not believe there is any need to hold such information centrally.
§ 119. Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has to ensure that licences to drive hackney carriages and private hire vehicles are not issued to men with criminal records which include rape.
§ Mr. FreemanI have been asked to reply.
Section 47 of the Road Traffic Act 1991 gives local authorities a power to check with the police if applicants for hackney carriage and PHV drivers' licences have any criminal convictions. A copy of the guidance issued to police and local authorities last year on how the vetting arrangements should operate was placed in the House of Commons Library.
District councils must decide, on the basis of all the information at their disposal, whether an applicant is a fit and proper person to hold such a licence. They should not take into account any convictions which are "spent" by virtue of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.