TAXI DRIVERS IN Moray will not know if they face compulsory health checks until after the outcome of the enquiry into the Glasgow bin lorry tragedy is known.
Councillors on the planning and regulatory services committee discussed a report on if the local authority should impose the checks on taxi licence applicants in a move that would initially cost Moray Council £25,000 a year.
The tests, which would be aimed at assessing the health and well-being of drivers, were first suggested over a year ago and the costs of their being undertaken would initially fall to the local authority.
During the meeting on Wednesday Councillor Graham Leadbitter said that imposing the condition was part of the Council’s “duty of care” to the general public, adding that the medical fitness of taxi drivers did have a bearing on if they should be granted a licence.
However, his SNP colleague, Councillor Aaron McLean, thought the scheme was going a bit far, saying: “Part of me thinks that we are perhaps using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut here.”
Members agreed to postpone any decision on the issue after Forres independent councillor George Alexander pointed out: “In the light of what has been going on in Glasgow in the last few weeks, is it not likely that the Scottish Government will come forward with some sort of national recommendation?”