ALL THINGS LICENSING
licence prior to a sanction being administered with the intention of evading further scrutiny should a decision be made and details entered on the NR3 Register.
Act 2022, councils are now mandated to record all decisions to suspend, refuse and revoke. There is a further requirement for a licensing authority to check the register before deciding whether to grant or renew a driver licence, and if there is a relevant entry, the authority will be required to contact the recording authority to
request the relevant
information. The decision-making licensing authority is then required to have regard to the information provided when making its decision.
As set out above, the authority is required to have regard to the information resulting from an entry on the register when making a decision. Being on the National Register of Taxi and Private Hire Licence Revocations and Refusals (NR3) doesn’t auto- matically prevent a driver from obtaining a licence elsewhere. However, it serves as a record that local authorities can check when considering new applications.
If an individual has a history of refusals or revocations, it may influence their eligibility for a new licence in another area. Ultimately, decisions are made by the licensing authority based on the specific circum- stances of each individual’s case, and the policy requirements of the local authority.
Having been made aware of a number of examples nationally where the register has been used effectively to prevent unsuitable individuals from crossing between authorities, it is clear that it serves as a vital tool to ensure that drivers refused/revoked in one area are not applying to a different area to work.
However, despite this vital tool, there now appears to be an alarming trend in drivers attempting to circum- vent an entry on the register by ‘surrendering’ their
PHTM NOVEMBER 2024
Furthermore, worryingly, there are also anecdotal reports of some licensing authorities encouraging drivers to surrender their licences following a complaint.
SURRENDER OF A TAXI/PRIVATE HIRE DRIVER LICENCE
As I set out earlier, the purpose of the register and its use is to protect the public and trade from unacceptable drivers obtaining a licence in other areas/regions.
This falls down if unscrupulous drivers are allowed to circumvent the provisions by surrendering their licence ahead of any revocation or non-renewal being taken, or even worse encouraged to do so, to such an extent that for an authority to
accept the
surrendering of a driver’s licence would seriously weaken the effectiveness of the National Register.
NAFN has become aware of instances where drivers have been able to surrender their licence before a licensing authority could revoke or suspend their licence. Currently, there is no way of recording a licence surrender on the NR3 Register. This could potentially allow an individual to apply for a licence to another licensing authority which would be unaware of any intended sanction.
Consequently, NAFN has recently issued guidance to local authorities to the extent that authorities should not be accepting requests for drivers to surrender licences. Neither the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 or the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022 make any provision for the surrender of a driver’s licence.
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