Copyright 2008 The A4e Consortium | www.a4econsortium.co.uk
“For many visitors the City, the taxi ride from the airport or rail station is their first impression of West Yorkshire. The improvement made by drivers undertaking these courses to develop themselves will help us to give visitors to the region a first class experience.”
Councillor Ronald Feldman
More than 100 taxi and private hire drivers have successfully completed both a BTEC and an NVQ Level 2 course in Road Passenger Vehicle Driving developed by GoSkills, the Sector Skills Council for Passenger Transport.
The course was funded by the Learning and Skills Council’s Train to Gain service. Norton Webb Limited, a Pudsey based training organisation and part of the A4e consortium of training providers, has delivered training and assessment to drivers to help them to gain skills to provide an excellent standard of service to the public.
Certificates were awarded at a presentation ceremony held on Friday 10th October 2008, by Councillor Ronald Feldman, the Chair of the Licensing and Regulatory Panel of Leeds City Council, and by Mr Des Broster, Section Head of LCC Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Department.
The course has been introduced to improve the image of the industry, raise professionalism and allow drivers to act as ambassadors for the City. Training includes awareness of the support needed by people with disabilities, customer service skills, health and safety, taxi and private hire regulations and safe driving skills.
Councillor Ronald Feldman commented:
“For many visitors the City, the taxi ride from the airport or rail station is their first impression of West Yorkshire. The improvement made by drivers undertaking these courses to develop themselves will help us to give visitors to the region a first class experience.”
The scheme provides free training to NVQ Level 2 standards for all taxi and private hire drivers in the region. Drivers are provided with on the job training and assessment of their skills, which help to ensure that the services on offer to the public are of high quality, and gives recognition to drivers for their skills.
Managing Director of Norton Webb Ltd, Angela Garczynski, said:
“We have been thrilled at the level of take-up with this training. We have found that taxi and private hire drivers have been keen enrol on the course and are happy and willing develop their knowledge and skills.”
