What DBS Checks do Taxi Drivers Need?
If you enjoy driving, like chatting to customers, and have a great memory for how to get from A to B, then being a taxi-driver could be your ideal job.
You may be surprised to find out, that taxi drivers need a DBS check, because taxi-drivers do not necessarily work unsupervised with children or vulnerable adults; but having a DBS is an essential requirement for the job. If we think about it more, people are placing a huge amount of trust in taxi-drivers, to get them safely to a destination; the driver needs to be able to drive without risk, as well as being a trustworthy person with no past history of violence or abuse.
What Qualifications or Experience is Required?
- You need a driving licence
- You need to have been driving legally for at least a year
- If you want to drive in London, to pass The Knowledge, you need you have been driving at least three years
- You can take Level 2 certificates in Road Passenger Vehicle Driving; and an Introduction to the Role of Professional Taxi and Private Van Hire (you will need 2 GCSEs grade 9 – 3; or A* to D, to get on these courses)
- You will need a Taxi Driver Licence
- You may need to pass a medical
- You will need a DBS check
- You may need your own registered vehicle
Why is a DBS Required?
A DBS Check is required because it is part of the law. In 2012 the previous Police Act of 1997 was amended, to state that any taxi or Private Hire Vehicle Licenses require an Enhanced DBS check. This law was amended to make is safer for people travelling in taxis, and to reduce levels of risk to them. Before the 2012 law came into place, taxi drivers only needed an Enhanced DBS Check if they were driving children or vulnerable people regularly.
How Can I Get a DBS Check?
- You can apply online
- It’s important to have documents to support your application such as a valid driving licence and 2 other documents that prove your address, such as a bank statement and a utility bill, or government letter.
- It’s important to know exactly what type of driving work you will be doing and select the appropriate ‘workforce box’ on the application. You need to know whether your driving will include you transporting school, college, or University students; or vulnerable adults from a care home. If your driving will include any of these, then it is classed as regulated activity, and as well as requiring an Enhanced DBS Check, you will also need to be checked against the relevant Barred lists for children, or vulnerable adults; or both, if both apply.
Being a taxi driver is a very different job, to your regular 9am – 5pm office job. If you genuinely enjoy driving, and chatting to a really diverse range of people, and having the freedom to drive across a city, or perhaps even parts of the country, then being a taxi driver can be an enormously rewarding career.
