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Please read the following carefully before applying for a hackney carriage or private hire driver’s licence.

The new driver’s licence form is the first step to apply for either a private hire or hackney carriage driver’s licence within the borough of ºÚÁÏÍøÕ¾. The information that you are required to provide in the application process is necessary to enable us to determine whether a licence should be granted and, in the case of private hire drivers, what conditions should be attached to any such licence.

The law specifies that we may only grant licences if we are satisfied that:

• you are a fit and proper to hold such a licence
• you are not disqualified by your immigration status from driving a private hire or hackney carriage vehicle

The law also specifies that we may refuse to grant a licence if:

• since the grant of the licence, the driver has been convicted of an offence involving dishonesty, indecency or violence
• since the grant of the licence, the driver has been convicted of an offence under, or has failed to comply, with the provisions of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 or of Part II of the Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1976
• since the grant of the licence, the driver has been convicted of an immigration offence or required to pay an immigration penalty
• any other reasonable cause

As part of this application you are asked about your convictions and cautions. Amendments in 2013 to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 state that certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’ and are not subject to disclosure to us as part of this application, and cannot be taken into account. This means that when deciding whether you are a fit and proper person to hold a licence, we are entitled to consider all of your convictions and cautions, even those which are spent, except for any convictions or cautions which are protected. If you have a conviction or caution and are unsure whether it is protected, further information about this can be obtained from a solicitor or from the government’s DBS filtering guide. Please make sure you read the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) best practice guidance.

If you have any convictions or cautions which are not protected, we will take into account our Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Licensing Policy, in particular Appendix L, when considering your application. You are encouraged to include with this application any information or documentation you think is relevant to our assessment of whether you are a fit and proper person to hold a licence. This should include supporting evidence for why we should not apply any of our policy, particularly any of the matters contained in Appendix L, in your particular case. You should also provide any information about mitigating circumstances in respect of your convictions or cautions or other matters which you want the council to take into account.

You should note that it is a criminal offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement or omit any material particular in giving information in this application. Further, if you are granted a licence and afterwards we discover you were not truthful in your application, it will be considered a very serious matter and may result in the suspension or revocation of your licence. You should therefore complete the application form (and all other parts of the application process) truthfully. Do not omit something because you are not sure it should be declared or not. If you are not sure, either contact a solicitor or ask the Licensing Officer who may be able to assist you.

The information you provide on this form will be retained by the council and additional information may be required as and when necessary. We can be required by law to pass on personal information to other government agencies such as the police and HM Revenue and Customs. We may also share information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds. For further information on our privacy notice, see the ºÚÁÏÍøÕ¾ Borough Council privacy notice webpage.