Southampton City Council is to implement a new drug testing policy for taxi drivers

Southampton City Council is to implement a new drug testing policy for taxi drivers, providing council enforcement officers with the ability to carry out spot checks on licensed drivers.

This new policy, built on a system currently operated by Portsmouth City Council, states:

"Licence holders may be asked to submit to a drugs test to assist in determining the suitability of that individual to hold a taxi licence. These may be done by appointment or spot checks."

The policy also allows for enforcement officers to carry out random drug screening on existing drivers, proprietors and operators or following an instruction by the Licensing Committee.

If a test returns a positive result, the consequences for the licence holder could result in suspension or revocation of the licence.

The new policy will also form part of the licence application process and if an applicant returns a positive test, the application will be referral to the licensing committee, to determine the application.

However, officers noted that there was no guidance to assist an investigating officer in establishing whether a licence holder had been in possession of illicit drugs.

It will be interesting to see if many other Licensing Authorities adopt a similar policy, watch this space.