TAXI drivers in Craven will have to install CCTV cameras in their cars and undergo tougher criminal record checks under new rules set to be approved next week.

Craven District Council said the proposed rules for both taxis and private hire cabs would improve passenger safety and cut complaints against drivers including “dangerous driving” and “verbal and threatening behaviour”.

The CCTV rules were set to be introduced from 1 January, however, this was delayed after a petition from taxi drivers who raised concerns over the costs and financial impacts of Covid.

The council’s licensing committee will be now be asked to agree a new implementation date at a meeting this evening (Tuesday).

Once the rules come into force, the council will become the first in North Yorkshire to mandate CCTV cameras in taxis.

A report to the licensing committee said: “The view is that taxi cameras can provide an additional deterrence to prevent risks to passengers and drivers and can add investigative value when required.

“The Department for Transport guidance does not state that taxi cameras should be mandated. The matter remains for the licensing authority to determine based on local circumstances.”

The council said the cameras cost between £450 and £630, and that this “has always been an important consideration”.

 Drivers who can not afford the equipment would be to apply to the council for an exception to the rules if they can show they are suffering from financial hardship.

A total of 12 taxis in the district have so far installed the cameras.

The new rules on criminal record checks are being imposed on all councils by the Department for Transport which published its new Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards earlier this year.

Currently, councils are “encouraged” to check criminal records, but the new proposals go further saying the enhanced criminal checks “should” be carried out on drivers applying for licences.

Those with specific previous convictions will also face tougher bans.

Announcing the new standards earlier this year, former transport minister Nusrat Ghani said: “While the vast majority of drivers are safe and act responsibly, we have seen too many cases where taxi and minicab drivers have used their job to prey on vulnerable people, women and children.

“These rules would make sure that drivers are fit to carry passengers, keeping people safe while stopping those with bad intentions from getting behind the wheel of a taxi or minicab.”