Apply for a new private hire driver's licence

Find out what you need to complete an application, how to complete an application and what happens after you have submitted your application.

Before completing an application

A new applicant has never been granted a taxi driver licence by us, or whose last Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council (KMBC) licence has expired by more than one month.

Payment for new driver applications is required in full during online submission. Application fees are non-refundable.

Please ensure the documents as listed below are available and ready to upload before applying for a licence. Any missing documents or incorrect information will delay the processing of your application.

  1. All pages of your full Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Certificate. If you do not have one, you can apply to Taxi Plus for a DBS (enhanced) Certificate. Please see the ID checking guidelines for the documents required. If you already have such a DBS Certificate and have subscribed to the DBS Update Service, the original DBS certificate must be uploaded. You can subscribe to the DBS Update Service. If you do not subscribe to the DBS Update Service, you must provide a new DBS certificate when renewing.
  2. British or Irish passport, UK or Irish birth certificate, or proof of your right to work and reside in the United Kingdom. 
  3. The front of your current Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) photocard licence. This must be a colour image. If you only have a paper licence, then that should be uploaded instead. You must have held a Full valid UK DVLA licence for a minimum period of twelve months before making an application.
  4. A current colour passport-style photograph of you as either a jpg or jpeg file.
  5. A satisfactory current Group ll DVLA Standard Medical. Current Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) or Public Service Vehicle (PSV) drivers may not need a further medical but will have their licence issued to the DVLA date of issue and expiry. Please see the DVLA Medical guidance for Group II licence rules. You may only obtain the Group ll standard medical from a General Practitioner (GP) at your registered surgery or another practitioner with full electronic access to your medical records before completing the assessment. Medical questionnaires completed by any other GP without access to your records will be rejected.
  6. Level 2 Qualification in Transporting Passengers by Taxi & Private Hire. When uploading this piece of evidence, please provide the page showing the units covered as part of the qualification (there should be 9 units). If you do not already have this qualification, you will need to book a place with a vocational trainer. You can find a list of accredited providers on the National Careers Service webpage.
  7. Certificate of good conduct. This applies only if you have lived outside of the UK for three months or more within the last five years. You must also show the Council an original certificate of good conduct from the country or countries you lived in. If this applies to you, an original certificate, and English translation, dated within the last six months, with a receipt from the embassy or consulate that issued it are required. 
  8.  HMRC tax code. If applying for the same type of licence you previously held with Knowsley or a different authority, which expired less than 12 months ago, you must input a tax check code when requested in the online application. Complete a tax check for a taxi, private hire or scrap metal licence.

We have adopted the National-Government-issued Statutory Guidance on Convictions via a “Fit & Proper Person Policy". 

FIT-AND-PROPER-GUIDANCE.pdf (PDF, 223.5KB)

If you have convictions or relevant matters, you must check the periods applied to offences thoroughly; if you breach the policy, you will not be refunded if we follow the policy and refuse to grant a licence. No conviction is ever spent for private hire driver applicants as a Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exceptions) Order applies - all offences must be disclosed. Any failure to disclose can be a reason to refuse a licence.

If you have previously had a licence refused or revoked

National Government Statutory Guidance now requires all taxi and private hire Licensing authorities to check applications against a National Register. Applicants are asked if they have ever had a licence refused or revoked. 

If applicants falsely fail to declare or if they breach the current policy, then that application will be referred to a panel for determination only after completing a DBS and DVLA check.

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