Glasgow private hire taxi drivers can now permanently install safety screens to protect themselves from being attacked by passengers.
The Licensing and Regulatory Committee at Glasgow City Council (GCC) voted in favour of the move on Sunday. Safety screens were permitted before but as a temporary measure to help prevent the spread of deadly Covid-19.
Now drivers can indefinitely install screens within cars post-Covid and for general safety purposes, so long as they follow guidance approved by the city's licensing chiefs. The Scottish Private Hire Association (SPHA) has been campaigning on this proposal and lobbying for the policy to be adopted.
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John Paul Duffy, the West of Scotland branch chair of the SPHA, said: “We've been campaigning on issues of driver safety and as part of that we asked Glasgow City Council to grant drivers the permission to keep screens in their cars long term and beyond Covid to be able to increase on-the-job safety. Today's decision is a major success for our campaign and a major success for private hire drivers across the city who are looking for ways to better protect themselves while at work.
“During the pandemic councils said they couldn't allow partitions in private hire cars because they required guidance from the Scottish Government to be published on how it could be done safely. The Scottish Government then published safety guidance which led to councils granting car owners the ability to install screens.
"Our case was that, now that guidance has been published on how to install screens safely, we can extend that very same guidance to allow drivers the ability to install safety screens not just to protect themselves from virus transmission, but also from being violently attacked. Over the past few months, the SPHA has also been working with the Scottish Government so that this guidance, which is now permanently in place in Glasgow, be adopted nationally as a matter of best practice for the trade.”
Safety screens must be made from a rigid, but flexible material such as polycarbonate or PETG and must not interfere with airbags, nor affect the 'structural integrity' of the car, nor cause problems with seat adjusters or seat belts. Car owners must tell the council that they are installing a screen that meets the requirements.
Eddie Grice, the General Secretary of the SPHA, said “Today's decision by Glasgow City Council's Licensing and Regulatory Committee will be heavily applauded by members of the Scottish Private Hire Association and by private hire drivers throughout the city. With their decision today to allow private hire car licence holders the option to install safety screens for general protection they have shown that the council does take issues of driver safety just as seriously as they take issues of public safety.
“Private hire car operators have now been granted an option to protect drivers. This is a very positive step forward.
"It should also be pointed out that the presence of screens will also offer a level of protection and reassurance to the travelling public. Moreover, Covid-19 is still a threat and the screens continue to protect drivers and passengers from the risk of infection.
“Over and above that though, the Councillors on the committee have now delivered on a promise made during the recent council election campaign. They have taken a proposal offered to them by trade representatives, put it on their agenda, discussed its merits, and voted to implement it.
"They have stuck to the pledges made and to that, I say, 'Bravo'. They have also been delivering on their promise to engage with the trade with an 'open door' policy."
He added: "Councillors and Licensing Officers have made themselves available to trade reps here at the Scottish Private Hire Association and with others. Recently, they have held meetings with us and they are engaging with us by email and phone.
"They are listening to our concerns and issues and they are now acting on them. Other licensing authorities around the country should now be looking at Glasgow City Council for inspiration, and on that point we are calling on all other council areas in Scotland to follow Glasgow's lead and also grant private hire car owners the ability to install safety screens in their vehicles for general safety and security purposes.
"It has been refreshing to be able to sit down round the table with councillors and licensing officers recently and work together on the issues the trade faces. Long may it continue."
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