Hackney Carriage and private hire drivers’ tests - rebuttal
Reports featured in local media on 16 June 2014 stated that Birmingham City Council is planning to introduce changes to its communications and local knowledge tests for Hackney Carriage and private hire drivers.
It was suggested these revised tests would be applied retrospectively to drivers who are already licensed, and that the council intended to introduce a compulsory NVQ exam for new drivers before it would grant a licence.
This is not true.
We would like to take this opportunity to make it clear that the comments are incorrect and there are no plans to introduce new tests to replace the existing tests, which have been in place since 2010.
Also, there are no proposals to make the tests retrospective for drivers who were granted licences before the existing tests were introduced, or to introduce a compulsory NVQ.
