What councils check before licensing a taxi driver in England

There is no national taxi driver licence in England. Each district council, or Transport for London in the capital, decides who drives a taxi or private hire vehicle in its area. What makes the decisions similar from one council to the next is a document the councils are required to take into account: the Department for Transport's Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards, issued under section 177 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017. Section 177(4) requires licensing authorities to have regard to it.

This guide goes through the checks in the order a driver meets them. It uses the statutory standards (first published July 2020, last updated November 2022), the DfT's best practice guidance (updated November 2023) and the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, as they stood on 28 October 2026. London drivers are licensed under the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998 and other London legislation, and TfL's rules differ in places.

Two conditions in the Act

For private hire drivers (section 51 of the 1976 Act) and taxi drivers (section 59), a council must not grant a licence unless it is satisfied that:

• the applicant is a fit and proper person to hold a driver's licence;
• the applicant is not disqualified by reason of immigration status; and
• the applicant has been authorised to drive a car for at least twelve months, and still is.

A taxi applicant refused as not fit and proper can appeal to a magistrates' court.

The fit and proper test

The Act does not define "fit and proper". The statutory standards give councils one question to ask themselves (paragraph 5.4):

Would you allow a person for whom you care, regardless of their condition, to travel alone in a vehicle driven by this person at any time of day or night?

If the answer is no on the balance of probabilities, the standards say the person should not hold a licence. They add that the applicant should not be given the benefit of the doubt: a council that is only 50/50 should refuse. The threshold is lower than in a criminal court, so conduct that never led to a conviction can count.

Every other check below feeds into that question.

Criminal record: enhanced DBS and both barred lists

The standards say every applicant for a new or renewed driver licence should have an enhanced DBS check with a check of the children's and adults' barred lists. An enhanced certificate shows spent and unspent convictions according to the disclosure rules, plus any information a chief police officer believes is relevant.

Two points matter for drivers:

• Every six months. Licensed drivers should be required to keep up continuous registration with the DBS update service, so the council can check for new information every 6 months. Drivers who do not subscribe should still be checked every 6 months.
• The barred lists. Driving a taxi is not in itself a regulated activity, so a barred person is not legally banned from driving one. Even so, the standards say councils should not license anyone on either barred list, and must record their reasons if they make an exception.

Councils must not get round the DBS process. The standards point out that requiring an applicant to make a data protection subject access request to obtain their own records is a criminal offence.

Time abroad

The DBS cannot see most overseas records. Where an applicant has spent 3 or more continuous months outside the UK, the standards say councils should ask, where possible, for a criminal record or certificate of good character from the country concerned. Some countries only issue one after 6 months of residence. Time abroad before the age of 18 may matter less, because it is the applicant's character as an adult that counts.

Licensing history and the national register

Applicants should be asked whether they hold or have held a licence elsewhere, and whether any licence was ever refused, suspended or revoked. Application forms should warn that a false statement may be a criminal offence.

The answer is checked. Under the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022, every licensing authority in England must search the National Register for Revocations, Refusals and Suspensions (NR3S) before deciding an application or renewal, and record its own refusals, suspensions and revocations there. Records must be kept for 11 years. If the register shows something the applicant left out, the standards tell councils to consider whether the omission was dishonest.

Minimum periods after a conviction

The annex to the standards recommends minimum periods. They are a starting point, and each case must still be considered on its merits:

For drug-related convictions the applicant may also be asked to take drug tests at their own expense. A single minor traffic offence would not on its own prevent a licence, but multiple motoring convictions may.

Medical and eyesight

The best practice guidance says that, as a minimum, all applicants should undergo a medical fitness assessment, and that councils should apply the Group 2 standard required for lorry and bus drivers. It suggests using the DVLA's D4 medical examination report as a template. For Group 2 licence holders, a medical assessment is needed every 5 years from age 45, and every year from 65.

The same guidance says a maximum age limit is not appropriate. Fitness should be assessed regularly instead.

English, safeguarding and driving

The standards say a council's language test should cover both spoken and written English. Written English matters because drivers must understand safeguarding policies; spoken English matters because spotting exploitation depends on talking to passengers.

All drivers should also complete safeguarding training, and the best practice guidance adds disability awareness training or assessment, ending with an assessment of what the trainee has learned. What those tests cover and the pass marks councils publish are in our guide to the taxi safeguarding test.

On driving, the best practice guidance recommends training or assessment focused on attitudes and behaviour at first application and at each renewal, typically every 3 years.

Immigration status

Councils are prohibited from licensing anyone disqualified by immigration status, meaning someone in the UK illegally, not allowed to work, or allowed to work under a condition that rules out this job. Where the permission to stay is time-limited, the licence can be shorter than the usual 3 years.

While you hold the licence

The checks do not stop at grant:

• Report within 48 hours. The standards recommend that drivers must tell the council within 48 hours of an arrest and release, a charge or a conviction for a sexual offence, any offence involving dishonesty or violence, and any motoring offence.
• Suspension and revocation. Under section 61 of the 1976 Act, a council can suspend, revoke or refuse to renew a licence for a conviction involving dishonesty, indecency or violence, for an immigration offence or penalty, or for any other reasonable cause. The decision normally takes effect after 21 days, or immediately if public safety requires it. The driver can appeal to a magistrates' court.
• Complaints. Councils are told to record complaints and look for patterns, which can count at renewal even when no single complaint led to action.

Preparing for the knowledge tests

The UK Work Licence app has 114 safeguarding and disability awareness questions with 20-question timed mocks, each answer naming the law or guidance it comes from. Councils set their own tests, so check yours. The app is a free download with in-app purchases: UK Work Licence on the App Store.

Sources

• Department for Transport — Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards, July 2020, updated 25 November 2022: sections 3.2, 4, 5.4, 5.5, 6 and the annex on previous convictions.
• Department for Transport — Taxi and private hire vehicle licensing: best practice guidance for licensing authorities in England, updated 17 November 2023: sections 6.1 to 6.10.
• Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, sections 51, 59 and 61.
• Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022: the NR3S duties, as summarised in the statutory standards.
• Policing and Crime Act 2017, section 177: the power to issue the standards and the duty to have regard to them.

Each council sets its own policy within this framework. Read your council's taxi and private hire licensing policy before you apply.