Taxi and Private Hire Car Driver Qualification

Overview

Currently the City of Edinburgh Council requires taxi drivers to undertake the following before a Licence is granted:

• A topographical assessment of their knowledge of the layouts of roads and area to which their licence relates to.
• Tests on other matters relating to the operation of a taxi that the Council, as the licensing authority, considers desirable.

A change in legislation which is due to take effect in 2016 now allows the council to extend training to Private Hire car drivers.

The Council is now proposing to introduce a training qualification for both taxi and private hire drivers in Edinburgh, which will improve standards across the industry. Qualifications for taxi drivers have been widely used in England and Wales for a number of years.

The Council welcomes your views on the new proposals and on developing future training provision for the city’s taxi and private hire car drivers.

What happens next

The results of the survey will form the basis of a report to the Regulatory Committee, which will consider how taxi and private hire car drivers licence training is taken forward in the City of Edinburgh Council area.