Thirteen hackney carriage and private hire drivers were murdered, and at least sixty were seriously assaulted last year whilst carrying out their work, the House of Commons was told yesterday.

Leading an adjournment debate on violence against taxi drivers, Northampton South MP Brian Binley said that there were also more than 1000 other assaults as well as countless unreported incidents affecting drivers.

Since 1993, forty-nine drivers have been murdered and there have been 120 serious assaults this year alone – double the figure for last year. This is out of a workforce of around 340,000 people.

The estimated cost of investigating the 49 murders was £76 million, with each investigation of violence against the person costing £3036 – a total of around £168 million once the cost to social security and loss of earnings is taken into account.

Brian Binley’s debate was launched to coincide with a rally outside parliament on Monday 28 April by the GMB Union professional worker’s branch. The union is calling for action on the growing number of violent attacks by drivers, and for assistance with funding of CCTV cameras and shields in licensed vehicles.

GMB general secretary Paul Kenny said: ‘There is nothing to stop the provision of protective shields and CCTV for licensed mini cab drivers vehicles and hackney carriage drivers apart from the indifference to their plight by the authorities that should be looking out for their welfare.

‘Everyone uses the services these GMB members provide. I think that most people are amazed to hear that these drivers are at risk for their lives from their passengers. I call on the labour movement to put its entire weight behind this GMB safety campaign.’

Mr Binley told the Commons that ‘CCTV is a vital part of the defence process’. In Sheffield last year a 500-strong taxi firm suffered four hundred incidents of violence and abuse between December and the new year. After installing in-car CCTV it reported only six incidents in a year.

However, the cameras cost between £700 and £1000 a year. The production costs are only around £80, with the rest being taken up by maintenance and back-up; Mr Binley called for the government to do more to help install these units.

He also drew attention to other parts of the GMB’s campaign, in which they called for:

government incentives for safety measures through local licensing authorities

CCTV in vehicles

proper training for drivers, such as nationally recognised portable NVQs

for a more sensible sentencing regime

for the police to record attacks on licensed drivers as a separate category.

Mr Binley called for prompt publication of a government report into the personal safety of drivers, which was due to be finalised at the end of 2007. He recognised the impact that schemes such as taxi marshals at taxi ranks had had, but ‘those projects on their own are simply not enough; they need greater support from the government’.

Responding to the debate for the government, Work and Pensions under-secretary Anne McGuire said that it did recognise the concerns, which is why for the first time national research has been undertaken to investigate the personal safety problems. This also includes bilking, verbal abuse and racial abuse, which Mr Binley had not mentioned.

She agreed that there was no national police data available to show the extent of the problem. However, a three-year analysis of the problem in west Yorkshire showed there were on average ten to twenty assaults a month – ‘quite a figure’. Many but not all assaults are alcohol-related and occur at night.

She pointed out that local authorities can chose to fund in-car CCTV as part of their wider work in protecting workings and the public through crime and disorder reduction partnerships. Guidance to drivers on how to stay safe will be published later in 2008, and the best practise guidance to licensing authorities – which already suggests consideration is given to CCTV installation – is currently being revised.

MORE INFORMATION on violence against drivers is contained in a US Department for Justice report, Robbery Against Taxi Drivers, in the Institute library under Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles/Official Reports.

Guidance from the Health and Safety Executive on preventing violence is available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/violence/hsl...ies/taxi.htm