Issue - meetings

To seek approval for the proposed use of a National Register, referred to as the National Register of Taxi Licence Revocations and Refusals and the steps that need to be taken by the Authority if it wishes to make use of the Register.

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·         When a hackney carriage or private hire driver’s licence was revoked, or an application for a licence was refused, the Authority would automatically record this decision for inclusion in the National Register;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  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72