MacAskill pledges to drive 'gangster' taxi firms off the road

Published on Thursday 17 September 2009 22:05

SCOTLAND'S justice secretary has pledged to drive "cowboy" taxi operators off the road and help police crack down on criminals who cash in on the trade.

Kenny MacAskill yesterday vowed that new measures aimed at bringing the taxi industry under greater control would allow the authorities to properly monitor private-hire firms for the first time.

Legislation introduced earlier this year will see taxi booking offices having to obtain licences for the first time. The police have also been given full powers to carry out checks of company premises and booking records.

Although all cab drivers must secure a licence to take to the road, there has never been proper regulation of taxi operators and firms, which have been unveiled as fronts for money-laundering, drug-dealing and prostitution.

Taxi industry leaders say the new measures will allow tough action to be taken against rogue private-hire drivers and companies that flout laws banning drivers picking up fares on the street or touting for business at ranks.

Mr MacAskill said: "There has traditionally been much less control over private-hire firms than black-cab operators, which have generally served our cities well. Basically, anyone could set up a cab company from their front bedroom or garage and there was little that could be done to monitor them."

He added that he wanted to send a "clear message" to organised criminals that there was no room in the industry for those who want to use taxi and private-hire car firms as a "front for illegal activities".

"We won't allow hard-working cabbies, who borrow from the bank to mortgage their home to buy a cab and make a living, to be driven off the road by crooks and gangsters," he said.

It emerged earlier this year that police believe at least 15 taxi firms in Scotland are controlled by organised crime gangs.

Private-hire businesses in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and beyond are said to have been infiltrated by underworld figures using cars to ferry drugs, prostitutes and enforcers.

Frank Smith, Edinburgh's new taxi licensing inspector, said: "It is up to the police to work with the council to ensure the new regulations are enforced. I aim to ensure the existing high standards in the industry are maintained and, where opportunities arise, are improved upon."

COMMENTARY

UNDER the current system of taxi regulation, drivers can have their licence suspended by the local authority on the recommendation of the police, writes Derek Bridgeford.

However, there has not been a system in place previously that has allowed proper action to be taken against firms that the police are concerned about.

This new legislation will basically give the authorities the powers to suspend the operations of entire companies, if there is evidence of criminality.

But they will also be able to go into taxi booking offices and inspect their premises and look at all of their records if there are grounds for suspicion.

It is mainly private hire firms that have caused problems over their links to criminal gangs, and there has been much less regulation of them over the years.

&#149 Derek Bridgeford is a spokesman for the Scottish Taxi Federation.