West Northamptonshire Council accused of ‘racist presentation’, says taxi drivers union

A Northamptonshire council has been accused of trying to enforce “racist” and “regressive” regulations, says a union of taxi drivers.

Members of the App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU) took to the Guildhall and protested against the proposed regulations on Tuesday (October 2), ahead of discussion at a West Northamptonshire Council meeting.

The union has accused the council of “resorting to offensive racist tropes” during the meeting when a representative allegedly referenced a hypothetical scenario of where a rape victim might be “spirited away to Pakistan” so that she might be prevented from giving evidence.

In a statement, they said: “Council authorities choose to resort to racist tropes of sexual violence undertaken by Pakistani men in order to frighten and intimidate. Such tropes serve to demonise and stigmatise an already marginalised community who work in the trade.”

The drivers also take issue with the regulation proposals, which include a penalty points system that drivers could breach through failure to comply with the dress code, or for not offering reasonable assistance with luggage, among other measures.

Another regulation that has provoked concern from the union is the demand for a “certificate of good conduct” from every country they may have lived for more than 90 days since the age of 18. The ADCU has called this “arbitrary and racist”.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) say the regulations have been “designed with public safety in mind”. The updated policy for Hackney Carriage and private hire drivers was proposed last year and the council consulted local drivers and operators.

The decision on the policy was deferred by WNC to give members more time to consider consultation responses and make amendments to the draft policy.

Shafqat Shah, chair of ADCU Northampton, said: “I am grateful for the common sense exercised by the licensing committee in their decision to defer any vote on the regulations.”

A spokesperson for WNC said that during the meeting, a council representative was “asked if it was possible that information from police could be considered even when an applicant has not been convicted of an offence”.

“In response, and in order to confirm that it was a possibility for this information to be considered where there is no conviction, the officer referenced a case they had been party to from a previous authority in which this had happened,” the spokesperson.

“In doing so, they explained that a prosecution had not been possible because a witness was no longer available. We held a lengthy consultation and everyone’s views have been captured and presented back to the licensing committee. Committee members requested more time to consider the consultation responses.”

The council has not yet revealed when the final decision on the policy will be made.