Please read the following instructions first
Notes for guidance
Photographs
For renewal applications your renewal letter will confirm the year in which the photograph is next required. You are only required to submit a passport photograph once every 10 years unless your appearance substantially alters.
One full colour passport sized photograph complying with the following requirements must accompany the application:
- 45mm x 35mm photograph can be either a digital image or on photographic paper
- Applicant must be viewed "full face" with eyes open
- No hat/head covering should be worn unless for religious reasons
- No sunglasses
- Photographs must be in sharp focus and clear against a light background so applicants' facial features are distinguishable and contrast against the background
- No other person should be visible in the photograph
Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as Criminal Records Bureau) check
A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is required for all new applicants (and for renewals if indicated on your renewal pack cover letter.) You will need to provide an email address on your application form - we will then send you a link with your unique username and password to complete your DBS application online. In addition you must:
- Pay the appropriate fee
- See below for identity documents required following submission of your application
Disclosure and Barring Update Service
It is the licensing authority’s policy to require applicants to register for the DBS’s update service and to nominate the licensing authority to receive updates. Registration costs £13 per year. Licensees are expected to maintain this registration and nomination throughout the duration of their licence. Details of how to register for the update service.
Please note that you must register for the update service within 30 days of receiving your DBS certificate.
Medical check
Medicals are required by all new applicants and for renewals if the necessary form is enclosed with the application pack. The medical certificate must be returned to the licensing service directly from the doctor before the licence can be issued – it must not be handed to the patient.
Please note the medical check is mandatory each year if aged 65 or over.
DVLA Driver licence check
The licence service will carry out checks on your licence through a third party checking system called ‘Davis Check’ an email will be sent directly from ‘Davis’ to the email address entered on your application form. You will need to follow the link in the email and complete the required information and submit it, in order to complete the check.
Right to work check
The Immigration Act 2016 requires that all taxi drivers complete a ‘Right to Work’ check. You will be expected to provide a valid British Citizen Passport to us as part of your application to prove you have the right to work in the UK. If you cannot provide a British Citizen Passport you will need to provide alternative acceptable documents from the Right to Work Checklist which is available on request.
Tax code check
From 4 April 2022, if you renew or apply for a subsequent licence under a different licensing
body, you’ll have to do a tax check. You’ll be able to do this online through a digital service.
You will be able to complete this tax check on gov.uk through your government gateway account.
You will only need to answer a few questions to tell HMRC how you pay any tax that may be due on income you earn from your licensed trade. If you do not already have a
government gateway account, you can sign up on gov.uk.
The tax check should only take a few minutes. There’ll be guidance on gov.uk and anyone who
needs extra support will be able to complete the tax check by phone through HMRC’s customer
helpline.
When you’ve completed the tax check, you’ll get a 9 digit code. This code needs to be entered into the relevant field on this application form.
If you’ve not registered to pay tax on earnings from your licensed trade, please go to gov.uk to check if you need to register as soon as possible:
If you should have been registered to pay tax and have not been, HMRC will work with you
promptly and professionally to get you back on the right track. It’s your responsibility to get
your tax right, but HMRC is here to help.
You can get help from HMRC if you need extra support, for example if you need information in a
different format or need help filling in forms. Get help from HMRC if you need extra support.
Further guidance on the tax check.
National Register of Refusals, Revocations & Suspensions (NR3s)
The licensing authority provides information to the National Register of Taxi Licence Refusals, Revocations & Suspensions (NR3s), a mechanism for licensing authorities to share details of individuals who have had a hackney carriage or Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) licence revoked, or an application for one refused. This is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the licensing authority – that is, assessing whether an individual is a fit and proper person to hold a hackney carriage or PHV licence therefore:
- Where a hackney carriage/ PHV licence is revoked, or an application for one refused, the authority will automatically record this decision on NR3s
- All applications for a new licence or licence renewal will automatically be checked on NR3s. If a search of NR3s indicates a match with an applicant, the authority will seek further information about the entry on the register from the authority which recorded it. Any information received as a result of an NR3s search will only be used in respect of the specific license application and will not be retained beyond the determination of that application
This is a mandatory part of applying for, a hackney carriage / PHV driver licence. The authority has a published policy on the approach it will take to requests by other authorities for further information about entries on NR3s, and about the use it will make of any further information provided to it.
Information will be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act (DPA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Any searches, provision or receipt of information of or under NR3s are necessary to the authority's statutory licensing functions of ensuring that all drivers are fit and proper to hold the applicable licence. It is not intended that any NR3s data will be transferred out of the United Kingdom.
If you wish to raise any issue related to the data protection legislation, including by relying on any of the rights afforded to data subjects under the GDPR, you can do so to the authority's Data Protection Officer at dataprotectionofficer@blackpool.gov.uk. This includes submitting a subject access request.
You always have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). Advice on how to raise a concern about handling of data can be found on the ICO's website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/