Operator licensing – advice for applicants
Private Hire Operator's licences are required by individuals or firms taking bookings for the hire of private hire vehicles. The law requires an operator to be licensed by the same authority which licenses the private hire vehicles and private hire drivers working within their control, thus a vehicle licensed by one authority can only ever be driven by a driver licensed by that same authority; both must be subject to the control of an operator licensed by that same authority.
Private Hire Operator licences are issued for five years but there is the option of having annual licences. Extensive conditions apply to all licences. All applicants listed on the application will be required to provide a basic level criminal records check from the Disclosure and Barring Service unless they are already licensed as a driver by the Borough Council. Again, unless already licensed as a driver applicants will also need to provide documentation proving that they have the right to work in the United Kingdom in accordance with the requirements of the Immigration Act 2016.
In the case of new applications, if the applicant(s) is/are not a current dual hackney carriage/private hire licensed driver, they will be required to undertake Safeguarding training. Please book the classroom course provided by the Blue Lamp Trust. Applicants will also need to provide information to allow the Council to undertake a tax conditionality check as set out in the HMRC tax conditionality document (see the Operator application pack which can be downloaded from this page).
NB Please ensure that you have read the application form and all pre-application information before applying to the Council. Your application will be rejected if it is incomplete, and you are not in possession of all the relevant documentation.