54 | Private Hire News | ISSUE 71 | AUTUMN 2015 www.lphca.co.uk | lphca@btinternet.com | @LPHCA

Transport for London’s ‘Private Hire Regulations Review Consultation’ between March and June 2015 asked in Question 18: “Do you consider it appropriate for TfL to introduce new training for private hire drivers and if so, what topics should be covered?”

We replied that the LPHCA does support the need for Disability Awareness Training.

The Disability Discrimination Act has now been replaced by The Equality Act 2010, yet many Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) and Taxi Operators do not fully understand the implications this has for them as service providers and employers. Similarly not every PHV and Taxi Driver understands their obligations, not only for themselves but for disabled people and their families.

Local Authorities responsible for licensing PHV & Taxi Operators and their Drivers around the country are now, quite rightly in our view, looking at mandating Disability Awareness Training for all the Drivers they licence and we wholeheartedly support this nationally.

GoSkills (the former Sector Skills Council for Taxis & PHVs) produced an excellent DVD, which covered Disability Awareness Training called “This Time Every Time” that used to be given to every Licensed PHV & Taxi Driver in London but there was no certainty that a driver would have looked at it.

The LPHCA has an open mind about how such training and awareness should be delivered but we are now moving more and more closely towards e-learning Disability Awareness Training as a modern and most practical way forward.

Just prior to discussing this with our membership and others we were contacted by Equo Limited who specialise in online training and we have set out some details below.

Internet-based Disability Awareness trainingIs simple to roll-out to all employees and drivers, however many locations they are based at. It can be done at home and even in vehicles during rest periods.

Arranging face-to-face training can be a nightmare – especially getting everyone in one place at the same time alongside a lot of unnecessary and expensive travel arrangements and lost time.

Training on the moveWith Internet-based Disability Awareness Training, Employees and Drivers would only need to travel as far as an internet-enabled PC, tablet, laptop or other big enough Mobile Device!

Employees and Drivers could fit this training into their working day at a time that suits everyone because time isn’t being wasted on travelling to and from a training venue.

Equo‘s e-learning Disability Awareness Training uses HTML, which in simple terms means that the training works on any Internet connected device.

Secure loginsEach Employee or Driver has their own secure login details meaning only they can access their training account privately wherever they are.

Randomly generated questions Questions are generated randomly to ensure that everyone is presented with different assessments, which alleviates problems. If another attempt is needed to pass the assessment there will be a reasonable proportion of brand new questions to ensure that the employee knows the subject and hasn’t simply remembered previous answers.

Your own secure Control PanelYou can monitor Drivers’ or Employees’ training as they all have individual training records allowing you to add more training courses, see whether they’ve started the training, how many attempts they have made at the assessment, if they’ve passed and also the results for each question they were asked.

Adaptable to be industry specificEquo’s training packages for Taxi & PHV are industry specific so they can make training and certification relevant to our sector alongside the various Local Authority regulators’ requirements.

Certificate are sent to all successful employeesEquo sends all successful candidates a high quality certificate to recognise their achievements.

Tried and tested by a major Taxi & PHV Licensing Authority“Since this training was introduced in April 2014 we have had no complaints regarding drivers who have completed the training.”

That’s what Bill Nailen, Licensing Officer for Crawley Borough Council and Training Officer for NALEO (The National Association of Licensing and Enforcement Officers), said about e-learning Disability Awareness Training from Equo Ltd.

Disability Awareness Training

www.lphca.co.uk | lphca@btinternet.com | @LPHCA Private Hire News | ISSUE 71 | AUTUMN 2015 | 55

With full support from the Council, Mr Nailen liaised with Equo to develop a tailored version of training, aimed specifically at the Taxi and Private Hire Industry.

As a small business the Equo team, led by Ian Carter, are able to respond quickly and meet the needs of different industries so the ongoing development of the Taxi and Private Hire version of their online Disability Awareness Training was driven by user feedback and by talking to various Licensing Authorities.

Mr Carter said: “Working closely with Bill Nailen at Crawley has been great as his experience and knowledge has been invaluable in enabling us to further improve the training and dove-tail it to the Industry and Local Authority needs.”

The innovative way of delivering the training appealed to the Crawley team as it negated the need to go through the logistical nightmare of organising face-to-face training. With over 900 drivers to train the e-learning option was the most sensible solution.

Training methodsDrivers work their way through tutorials covering discrimination, definitions of disability, positive language, mobility, visual and hearing impairments, mental health, learning disabilities, safe transportation of wheelchairs and assistance dogs – and more…

They then move on to the multiple-choice, assessed questions, drawing on the knowledge picked up from the tutorials. Once the questions are complete the driver has the opportunity to review the questions and make changes, if they want. When they submit their answers they are informed immediately if they’ve passed and are told what percentage they attained.

The training is designed to give drivers a good understanding of disability and not to catch them out.

More and more Licensing Authorities are requiring drivers to take some form of Disability Awareness Training – either on the first issue of their licence or at renewal. It seems that the majority will look to an e-learning solution, like the Equo package, to make rolling out the training both easy and cost-effective.

LPHCA ViewpointThis is exactly the type of training and testing that we are hoping TfL and other Licensing Authorities will take on board to certify a driver’s fitness to be licensed for Taxi or PHV. It’s modern, cost- effective and a very efficient way to train and inform drivers without the need to travel or lose a lot of income.

Equo’s online training, testing and certification is in our view ideal to deal with the very necessary requirement to undertake Disability Awareness Training. We share the view that it should be mandated as suggested by the Law Commission and others nationally.

Further InformationIf you want to find out more about e-learning Disability Awareness Training then give the Equo team a call on 01502 806906.If you’re coming along to the LPHCA’s 2015 Road Show on Thursday 1st October you can meet the team from Equo on their stand.

E-learning Disability Awareness Training for Taxi and Private Hire Drivers• Tailored to the Taxi and Private Hire industry

• Available on PC’s, laptops and tablet devices

• Tutorial-based with multiple-choice assessed questions

• Certificate on successful completion

•Tried and tested

• Proven to reduce level of complaints from disabled people

• Takes around 75 minutes to complete.

• No time wasted travelling to and from training venues.

Whether you are a Licensing Authority or Licensed Taxi or Private Hire Vehicle driver to find out how the Equo team can help you, call Ian or Wendy on:

01502 806906 or visit www.equo.co.uk