Rotherham taxi drivers will be forced to install CCTV cameras

Rotherham Council has introduced the new rules under their Taxi and Hackney Carriage policy, and drivers have until July 6 to fit the cameras.

Last December, during the trial of six men who were eventually convicted of the sexual exploitation of teenage girls in the town, the court heard police had been told that an underage teenage girl was being pressured to have sex with local Asian taxi drivers, but that no action was ever taken.

A year ago, two Rotherham taxi drivers arrested on suspicion of historic sexual offences against underage girls had their licences revoked.

Council commissioner Mary Ney said today the council believed the cameras would “provide protection, confidence and reassurance to the public when they are travelling in a taxi”.

She added: “The system also provides protection to taxi drivers who can experience abusive behaviour.

“The new camera rules are just one part of the policy which has been introduced to support drivers to do their job, by rebuilding trust and confidence.

“All drivers have known about the requirement for taxi cameras since last summer.”

The system will record video footage from inside the vehicle, and in some cases outside the vehicle, whenever the vehicle is being used as a taxi.

Whenever an unaccompanied child or vulnerable adult is being carried in the vehicle, audio recording must be activated by the driver.

But both the driver and the passenger can also activate the audio recording at any time.

Only people authorised by the council can access any recorded footage - and drivers will be unable to access footage.

The council will only download the footage in certain circumstances, such as if there is a complaint or incident involving a taxi, or if the council wants to check that the system is being used properly.

The council can easily check if a vehicle was being used as a taxi at a particular time by referring to records held by the private hire company that the taxi is working for.

Commissioner Ney added: “The camera system will provide protection for both passengers and the driver, and there needs to be the correct balance between protecting people and making sure that there is no breach of people’s rights to privacy.

“The driver is required to make sure that the system is operating correctly when the taxi is working.

“We will carry out random checks including downloading footage from the systems to verify that the systems are being used as required by the Council’s policy.

“If they are not then drivers may have their licence suspended or revoked.”