Cabbies facing more training after grooming gangs scandal

SAFEGUARDING COURSES EVERY THREE YEARS PROPOSED FOR CITY'S TAXI DRIVERS

- By GEORGE PALMER-SOADY

BLACK cab drivers could face new training to keep passengers safe after an investigation into the scandal of grooming gangs found “current arrangements are not fit for purpose”.

Nottingham City Council wants taxi drivers to complete a three-month course every three years, which it said would help cabbies “identify suspicious activities’ and “recognise types of abuse”.

It comes after recommendations made in a national report investigating the sexual exploitation of children in England.

Baroness Casey, who led the study, found a link between taxi licensing and abuse and that “perpetrators have exploited weaknesses in the current system of setting and enforcing standards within the taxi trade”.