Warning for taxi firm who let unlicensed driver take passengers from Bristol Airport

A Somerset taxi company has been given a formal warning by councillors after it allowed an unlicensed driver to take passengers from Bristol Airport.

Fairview Minibuses Ltd. operates out of Commerce Way in Highbridge (not far from the Isleport Grove housing development) providing private hire taxi services as well as a range of school bus services.

During a routine traffic stop on October 21, 2022, police stopped a Fairview vehicle driven by Helen Goodland, who was not properly licensed to drive with the company.

Fairview was successfully prosecuted at Bath Magistrates Court on April 24, being fined £512 and being ordered to pay £294 in costs.

Somerset Council has now given the company a formal warning, meaning it could be stripped of its private hire licence if there are any further infractions.

The matter was discussed at great length when the council’s regulatory sub-committee north convened in Bridgwater on Monday morning (June 5).

Ms Goodland, from Wedmore, made contact with the company on September 12, 2022 after being recommended to work for them by a friend.

Upon meeting company founder David King on that date, she provided her driving licence and was told a DBS check would be completed to see whether she was safe to drive a private hire vehicle.

Ms Goodland began doing journeys for Fairview shortly thereafter, including transporting a nine-year-old boy between Rooksbridge and Hugh Sexey Church of England School in Wedmore.

During this time, according to her police statement, she also transported passengers to Heathrow Airport in London, to Weston General Hospital in Weston-super-Mare, and to Bristol Airport.

All of these journeys were carried out before Ms Goodland had received her completed DBS result certificate in the post.

On October 21, 2022, Ms Goodland was booked to transfer passengers to Bristol Airport, in a vehicle which had “no markings to indicate it was a licensed vehicle” – and was subsequently stopped at the airport by PC Anthony Quinlan.

She said in her police statement: “I was completely shocked as I am an honest person, and have not driven for Fairview Taxis since this date.”

In a written statement, PC Quinlan confirmed that Fairview had been successfully prosecuted on three charges – employing an unlicensed driver, operating a private hire vehicle using an unlicensed driver, and operating a private hire vehicle without the proper plates being displayed.

Fairview founder David King admitted to the committee that he had allowed Ms Goodland to drive for the company for several weeks – though he stressed that the relevant DBS check had been carried out.

He said: “We’ve been operating for 25 years. I started the business with my wife, and my daughter Gemma and son-in-law Mark recently joined us.

“I would say we are a well-respected company in Highbridge and Burnham-on-Sea, and a well-run company. We’re not here to say ‘we didn’t do anything wrong’, we know we did something wrong.

“We were coming out of covid, three companies within Burnham shut down within a short space of time, and we took on their contracts and two of their drivers.

“Within a few weeks we had a few drivers pack up or go into retirement, which left us very short of drivers for contract work we’d agreed to take on already.

“Helen came to us, she was looking for short-term work and we said we might be able to find her some school transport work.

“We did the DBS, and had a period of three to four weeks where we were snowed under. Helen agreed to help us out on a couple of jobs – and we were wrong to offer her the work.

“We have now put procedures in place to stop this from happening again. The last thing we want to do is to tie ourselves up like we did before.”

Gemma King said that Ms Goodland had previously received safeguarding training during her tenure at Bridgwater and Taunton College, reducing the risk to children and vulnerable adults.

She said: “Helen is able to do a school run so long as we have DBS. She was coming from Bridgwater and Taunton College, where she would have had safeguarding training.

“She did school runs for us on and off for four weeks – it wasn’t every day.”

Under government regulations, the licence holder must declare any convictions, cautions or fixed penalties notices within five working days of the date of conviction.

Mr King said he had spoken to PC Quinlan about the issue and “presumed you the council had already known” about the offence, adding: “I put my hands up about that.”

Regarding the lack of proper plates, Mr King said: “We’d just had the vehicle back from bodywork repair, and we hadn’t put the signs back on. But there was still a sign in the window stating it was a private hire vehicle.”

Mr King said that the large amount of paperwork and safeguarding checks made it difficult to recruit and retain drivers.

He said: “In Burnham and Highbridge, there is an extreme lack of taxi companies – we turn away as much work as we take.

“It’s so difficult at the moment to get people to work for you. We go through the procedures and tell people what’s involved in it – and then they say they’re not interested.

“We had a guy who wanted to work a couple of weekends because his mortgage had gone up. We went through what he needed to do, and how much it would cost him.

“He called us back and said he’d gone to work with Domino’s PIzza, delivering for them on the weekends. He didn’t need safeguarding training even though he was going to people’s houses.”

Councillor Hugh Davies expressed dismay at the how the company had allowed Ms Goodland to drive for them.

He said: “I just can’t get over how you, with your 25 years’ experience, allowed this to happen.

“We read in the papers all the time about problems with dodgy drivers. I just can’t fit my head around it.”

After a lengthy deliberation in confidential session, the sub-committee voted to give the company a formal warning – with the proviso that any further breaches would result in a new hearing.

Councillor Simon Carswell (who chaired the hearing) said: “The offences of which Fairview were convicted were serious. Failing to ensure that their

driver was properly licensed and driving before their DBS certificate was complete presented a significant risk to the public, and risked the confidence and integrity of the licensing system.

“There could be no excuse for such lapses by a well-established and reputable operator.

“Notwithstanding the remorse and mitigation put forward by Fairview, we could not ignore the risks that the company were running by their actions.

“While the actions of Fairview did not have any significant consequences, it

could have been so different.

“We accepted the company’s remorse and that they had amended their policies and procedures and had learnt from their mistake, and that public safety was and remains at the forefront of their business. The owner remains a fit and proper person to hold an operator’s licence.

“We will issue a formal warning as to the company’s future conduct, which would include an inspection of the company’s records and procedures.

“Any future breach of our policy would result in a further appearance before this sub-committee with their licence at risk.”