MANDATORY safeguarding training for the borough’s taxi drivers has been postponed.

Licensing chiefs agreed to put back its introduction after learning the training lined-up for Bury cabbies did not meet the minimum standards required.

Members of the council’s licensing and safety panel voted unanimously to defer the training when they met at the town hall on Thursday evening.

They were told by licensing officer Michael Bridge that the “common minimum standard” of any programme must include a two-hour session covering the major safeguarding issues.

These include adult and child sexual exploitation, domestic violence, disability awareness and conflict management.

The panel agreed with the licensing service that, in light of this, it would be “inappropriate” to commence with its implementation on July 1 as previously intended.

It will now await further advice from Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) on who is currently providing training that does meet the standards.

Despite the unanimous vote Cllr Trevor Holt raised concerns over how long it would take to rearrange the training.

Angela Lomax head of trading standards and licensing at Bury Council said it would be rescheduled as soon as possible.

She said: “We were ready to go ahead, we had a package sorted, but it doesn’t cover the minimum standards.

“It’s quite specific, we wanted to make sure we don’t have two conflicting things going on. It will be as quick as we can. We have waited a long time to bring in and it’s very important.”