Rural taxi drivers must take English tests or face losing licences

Taxi drivers in Lincolnshire have been warned they must take an English test, even if they are native speakers, or face losing their driving licences. 

South Kesteven District Council introduced the rule in August after it received complaints from passengers about the 'level of English spoken by drivers'.

Originally, the rule only applied to new taxi drivers, but now existing taxi drivers have been told they will need to take a test costing £46.50, unless they can prove they have the appropriate qualifications.

Taxi drivers labelled the plans as 'outrageous', with one driver saying it would be impossible for him to track down his school qualifications he took over 50 years ago.

Barry Drake, who has been a taxi driver in Lincolnshire for 17 years, told The Times he would find it 'humiliating' to have to pay to take an English language skills test.

'I am English. The council knows I'm English. I am 70 years old', he said. 

Mr Drake has now set up a Facebook group to rally drivers against the change. 

He accused the council, which covers the areas of Grantham, Stamford, Bourne and Market Deeping, of being 'out of touch with real life issues'. 

Steven Newman told The Times he would not be renewing his licence with the council in the next year and instead would switch to neighbouring Rutland Council.

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Peter Stanton added the new rule was 'absolutely ridiculous' and admitted he also lost proof of his English CSE result, 'although I got top grades'.

He wrote on Mr Drake's Facebook page: 'I was born in England and lived here all my life. [Just] shocking from South Kesteven district council.'

South Kesteven District Council said the assessment would only need to be taken if the submitted qualification was not deemed to be satisfactory. 

The assessment looks at sentence use, vocabulary, fluency and pronunciation and applicants will need to score 47 out of 80 to pass the test.

A council spokesperson told The Times there had been an online consultation before the rule was introduced.

A spokesperson for South Kesteven District Council said: 'A key objective of the Council's Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy is to ensure taxis and private hire cars are safe, efficient and effective. As part of this, it is important to ensure drivers have a good understanding of the English language.

'Following updated guidance from the Department for Transport, the SKDC Licensing Committee met in February 2024 and agreed to review the Council's existing Policy, further to which it was recommended that the same application requirements for new drivers should also apply to existing drivers.

'This included the requirement to provide evidence of a competent level of English competency in line with the national guidance. 

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'The Licensing Committee agreed there should be public consultation in five areas where the revised guidance could result in changes to the Council's policy: driver proficiency, vehicle condition checks, vehicle age limits, maximum fare scale, and flexible transport services. English competency was not part of the consultation.

'Full Council met in May 2024 and endorsed the recommendations from the Licensing Committee, thereby approving a revised Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy.

'The Policy, informed by the updated guidance, states: 'Drivers can demonstrate their ability to communicate in English in one of two ways. The first option is to provide evidence of a qualification studied in English. This does not incur any fee.'

'If the driver does not have evidence of a qualification studied in English then they are required to pass an English Language Skills test. The cost of this one-off test is £46.50.'

'From 2021, this test was introduced only for new drivers. In the interests of equality and safety, the council agreed to apply it to all drivers.

'There are provisions in place for existing drivers to undertake the English language test if they are unable to provide the necessary evidence. We are therefore treating all drivers the same at the application stage, whether they are new or renewing.

'Since August 1st there have been 15 licence renewal applications out of which one has been required to sit a test. The others demonstrated competency through providing evidence of a qualification studied in English.'