The Road Transport Licensing Committee is updating its guidelines on issuing licences to drivers of taxis and other public passenger vehicles.

RTLC secretary Noel Capewell believes no public passenger vehicle licences have been issued to drivers with serious criminal convictions.

PPV drivers in the Isle of Man are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

This means there is no such thing as a ’spent conviction’ for a driver of a ply-for-hire taxi, private hire cars and minibuses and buses and coaches.

It also means that the RTLC’s licensing system does not collate information on offences contained within individual driver files.

Mr Capewell said some applicants with convictions that were minor and/or many years in the past have been granted licences during his six years as secretary to the RTLC.

But he said: ’I am aware of no PPV driver licences that have been granted to applicants with serious sexual and/or violent offences against the person and serious offences against minors.’

Similarly, he was not aware of any licences being granted to those with conviction for serious offences against property or major offences of dishonesty with or without violence.

The RTLC has a set of procedure guidelines for applicants with motoring offences as well as other offences.

Those guidelines were drafted in 2006 and are currently being updated by the RTLC, said Mr Capewell.

Every applicant for a PPV driver licence must submit a recent - dated within 12 months - enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate with their application.

This is the same for new drivers and renewal applications.

As there are no ’spent convictions’ for a PPV driver, the DBS certificate should chronicle an applicant’s entire criminal history, explained Mr Capewell.

The policy states that every application is determined on its own merits.

Isolated convictions for minor traffic offences will not prevent a licence from being issued.

However, multiple similar current offences would merit the issue of a warning.

More than one conviction for careless driving within the last two years will merit a refusal and no further application will be considered for two years.

A single conviction for careless driving, causing death by dangerous driving or dangerous driving, will be reported to the RTLC for determination on the merits of the case.

A serious view is taken of convictions for drink driving although an isolated offence will not necessarily debar an applicant.