Taxi drivers in Cardiff are to face English exams if passengers complain they have difficulty understanding them.
Licensing officials in Cardiff are worried about allegations that an increasing number of taxi drivers can’t speak proper English. Under the new rules taxi drivers who fail the English test will be required to sit a ‘Skills for Life’ course before they are allowed to drive on the streets of the Welsh capital.
Taxi Welcome
Council bosses are looking for cabbies to act as a welcome to tourists. Many taxi drivers, however, are concerned they will lose their jobs because of complaints from racist or drunken passengers.
Cabbies argue they already have to undergo six separate checks and tests before they get a taxi licence – navigation and map reading skills being one example. These new rules are just more hassle, they say.
Quality Cab Service
Public protection committee chairman, Ed Bridges, stresses that it is only a small minority of licensed taxi drivers who cause concern due to their broken English.
He comments: “If the driver can speak clearly and communicate well we see no reason to take it any further. But it is fundamental that drivers have a satisfactory level of English to be able to hold conversations with passengers.”