Decision details

Cabinet considered a report which sought approval for the use by the Authority of the National Register of Taxi Licence Revocations and Refusals developed by the Local Government Association and the National Anti-Fraud Network.

When considering applications for hackney carriage and private hire drivers’ licences, the Authority must be satisfied that the applicant was a fit and proper person to be granted a licence. As part of the application process an applicant was asked if they had ever had a licence application refused or revoked by another licensing authority. Currently the answer given to this question was checked against a Regional Register that the 12 North East licensing authorities had adopted and updated on a regular basis. Before the introduction of the National Register it had not been possible to check for the refusal or revocation of an individual’s licence outside the North East region.

The National Register, to be known as the ‘NR3 Register’, was a mechanism that enabled licensing authorities to share details of individuals who had had a hackney carriage or private hire driver licence revoked or an application for such a licence refused and the reason for the revocation or refusal. The adoption of the use of the National Register would enable the following to occur: -

·         When a hackney carriage or private hire driver’s licence was revoked, or an application for a licence was refused, the Authority would automatically record this decision for inclusion in the National Register;

·         The checking of all applications for a new licence or licence renewal against the National Register.

The Local Government Association and National Anti-Fraud Network had issued guidance which was attached to Appendix A to the report. The guidance stipulated the procedure that a local authority should follow in order to provide information for inclusion in the National Register and for the Authority to access the Register.

The National Register would be hosted by the National Anti-Fraud Network and information would be retained in the National Register for a period of 25 years as recommended in the Guidance.

If a search of the National Register resulted in a match with the applicant, or existing driver on renewal of a licence, the Authority would seek further information about the entry in the Register from the Authority that recorded that information. Any information received because of a Register search would only be used in respect of the specific licence application and would not be retained beyond the determination of that application.

Historic information concerning revocations and refusals of licences 7 years old and less would be added to the National Register. Before an individual’s information was added the National Register, the Authority would write to the individual whose information was recorded in the National Register stating that the information would be uploaded at a future date and informing the individual of the purpose of sharing that information and their legal right to object to the inclusion of their information in the National Register. The Authority would then consider any objections to their information being included in the Register.  

New applicants and existing drivers seeking to renew their licences would be made aware of the National Register by details of the Register being included in the application forms completed by them. The application form would inform applicants that their information may be uploaded to the National Register if their application was refused, a licence renewal refused or their licence subsequently revoked.

On subscribing to the use of the National Register the Authority would be required to sign up to a Data Sharing and Data Processing Agreement with the National Anti-Fraud Network. The Authority would also be required to operate in accordance with a Data Protection Policy (appended to the report) that governed the circumstances in which the Authority would share information with other licensing authorities regarding a particular individual driver that appeared in the National Register. The Authority would need to satisfy itself that it had followed the appropriate processes in sharing this information with other licensing authorities.            

Approval of the use of the National Register would require an amendment to the North Tyneside Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy to reflect the use of the National Register and new processes arising from it, including the sharing of data with the National Anti-Fraud Network and other licensing authorities.

Cabinet considered the following decision options: either to approve the recommendations as set out in paragraph 1.2 of the report, or alternatively, to not approve the recommendations.

Resolved that (1) the adoption by the Authority of the use of the National Register of Taxi Licence Revocations and Refusals developed by the Local Government Association and the National Anti-Fraud Network; and the sharing of information held by the Authority with the National Anti-Fraud Network and other licensing authorities as appropriate for inclusion in the National Register, be approved;

(2) the Head of Environment, Housing and Leisure be authorised to amend the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy to make reference to the use of, and contribution to, the National Register of Taxi Licence Revocations and Refusals as appropriate; and

(3) the Head of Environment Housing and Leisure be authorised to enter into an appropriate Data Sharing Agreement and Data Processing Agreement and any other documentation that may be required from time to time as part of the adoption of the use of the National Register of Taxi Licence Revocations and Refusals and the sharing of information by the Authority with the National Anti-Fraud Network and other licensing authorities as appropriate, following consultation with the Head of Law and Governance.

(Reason for decision: this will enable the Authority to undertake checks of a National Register to ascertain if individuals applying to the Authority for a hackney carriage or private hire driver’s licence have been refused a licence by a licensing authority or have had a licence revoked by a licensing authority in England or Wales. Having this additional information will assist in deciding if such individuals are fit and proper persons to hold such licences and will be an additional means of ensuring the safety of the travelling public in the Borough.)