‘Welsh bus drivers should be checked for any sex offences’
The Welsh Government could, and should, demand that bus drivers are checked against the sex offenders register and for other inappropriate convictions.
That’s according to the official in charge of licensing bus operators and drivers in Wales.
But a bus industry leader has warned that this would create an administrative “nightmare” unless the rules were changed so that a single check would cover every council area in Wales.
Nick Jones, Traffic Commissioner for Wales, said there had been cases where paedophiles were driving public buses, but the UK Government had opted not to change legislation.
He suggested that the Welsh Government could withhold funding from bus companies which do not check their drivers’ records through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
He said many people were unaware that DBS checks were not required for buses – also known as Public Service Vehicles (PSVs) – because checks were required for drivers of taxis and school buses.
“Contrary to the general perception, there is no requirement for DBS checks for PSV drivers,” he told the government in his first annual report as Wales’ traffic commissioner.
“Occasionally this results in PSVs being driven by individuals who should not be driving them, including paedophiles. The rationale for not having DBS checks for all PSV drivers has traditionally been the need to avoid unnecessary red tape.”
He pointed out that although powers to require DBS checks was not devolved, the Welsh Government has some leverage, because it pays about £25m a year in Bus Service Support Grant (BSSG) to bus operators.
“It may be that the Welsh Government will wish to consider whether it has the power to require a DBS check for a PSV driver on a registered service as a condition of BSSG payments, or that it [BSSG] be paid at a far lower level [if checks are not made].
“Payment or otherwise of BSSG is devolved. Potentially, Wales could lead the way on this.”
He told the Western Mail that while DBS checks were mandatory for drivers of school buses they were not required for drivers of registered public bus services which may carry children and young people, in some cases to and from school.
Before becoming Wales’ full-time traffic commissioner a year ago, he was the commissioner for the West Midlands and Wales for nine years.
“I’ve had cases brought before me of people who wouldn’t have been allowed to drive buses if their offences had been known,” said Mr Jones.
He recalled one case of a driver who had committed a sex offence on a passenger.
It had then emerged that the driver was convicted of a sex crime before the sex offenders’ register was set up as a result of legislation in 1997.
Bev Fowles, vice-chair of industry body the Confederation of Passenger Transport Wales, said the main difficulty with Mr Jones’ proposal was that, under current rules, individual drivers would have to be DBS checked by several councils.
He cited the X4 bus route between Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil and Abergavenny, through six council areas.
“It would be an administrative nightmare,” he said. “You would have a driver off the road for a fortnight to go round the local authorities. The driver has to go in person and do it [undergo the DBS check].” Each check costs £47 to £60. Mr Jones has suggested that Wales should have a single body to handle DBS checks which would be transferable across council boundaries.
Mr Fowles said: “If that were the case, I think it’s probably fair to expect all PSV drivers to have a DBS check.”
His own company, Swansea-based South Wales Transport, already DBS checks all its bus and coach drivers. This is “good for our business,” he said.