Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy

Buckinghamshire Council as licensing authority provides information to the National Register of Taxi Licence Refusals and Revocations (NR3), 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 NR3
• All applications for a new licence or licence renewal will automatically be checked on NR3. If a search of NR3 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 NR3 search will only be used in respect of the specific license application and will not be retained beyond the determination of that application

The information recorded on NR3 itself will be limited to:

• name
• date of birth
• address and contact details
• national insurance number
• driving licence number
• decision taken
• date of decision
• date decision effective

Information will be retained on NR3 for a period of 25 years.

This is a mandatory part of applying for and being granted, 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 NR3, and about the use it will make of any further information provided to it. You can read that policy below.

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 NR3 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 NR3 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. 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

In this policy, the ‘first authority’ refers to a licensing authority which made a specific entry onto the National Register of Refusals and Revocations; the ‘second authority’ refers to a licensing authority which is seeking more detailed information about the entry.

This policy covers the use that this authority will make of the ability to access and use information contained on the National Register of Taxi Licence Revocations and Refusals (NR3). The NR3 contains information relating to any refusal to grant, or revocation of, a taxi drivers’ licence. This information is important in the context of a subsequent application to another authority for a drivers’ licence by a person who has had their licence refused or revoked in the past.

This authority has signed up to the NR3. This means that when an application for a taxi drivers’ licence is refused, or when an existing taxi drivers’ licence is revoked, that information will be placed upon the register.

Throughout this policy reference is made to ‘taxi drivers licence.’ This generic term covers a hackney carriage drivers licence, a private hire drivers licence and a combined/dual licence. When an application for a new drivers’ licence, or renewal of an existing drivers’ licence is received, this authority will make a search of the NR3. The search will only be made by an officer who has been trained in the use of the NR3 and who is acting in accordance with this policy. If details are found that appear to relate to the applicant, a request will be made to the authority that entered that information for further details.

Any information that is received from any other authority in relation to an application will only be used in relation to that application, and the determination of it, and will not be used for any other purpose. Any data that is received will only be kept for as long as is necessary in relation to the determination of that application. This will include the period of processing that application, making a decision, notifying the applicant of the outcome of that decision, and the appeal processes.

For the avoidance of doubt, any such data will be kept for a period of no more than 35 days from the date of the service of the written notification of the determination of the application.

Where an appeal to the magistrates’ court is made, the data will be retained until that appeal is determined or abandoned. Where the appeal is determined by the magistrates’ court, there is a further right of appeal to the Crown Court. In these circumstances, the data will be retained for a period of no more than 35 days from the date of the decision of the magistrates’ court. If an appeal is made to the Crown Court, the data will be retained until that appeal is determined or abandoned. Where the appeal is determined by the magistrates’ court or the Crown Court, it is possible to appeal the decision by way of case stated. Accordingly, the data will be retained for a period of no more than 35 days from the date of the decision of the Crown Court (if the decision was made by the magistrates’ court, the retention period has already been addressed). If an appeal by way of case stated is made, the data will be retained until all court proceedings relating to that appeal by way of case stated (which will include potential appeals to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court) have been determined.

The data will be held securely in accordance with this authority’s general policy on the secure retention of personal data. At the end of the retention period, the data will be erased and/or destroyed in accordance with this authority’s general policy on the erasure and destruction of personal data. See the privacy policy page for further information.

When an application is made to this authority for the grant of a new, or renewal of, a taxi driver’s licence, this authority will check the NR3.

This authority will make and then retain a clear written record of every search that is made of the register. This will detail:

• the date of the search
• the name or names searched
• the reason for the search (new application or renewal)
• the results of the search; and
• the use made of the results of the search (this information will be entered to the register at a later date).

This record will not be combined with any other records (i.e. combined with a register of licences granted) and will be retained for the retention period of 25 years.

If this authority discovers any match (i.e. there is an entry in the register for the same name and identifying details) a request will be made to the authority that entered those details (the first authority) for further information about that entry. That request will also include details of this authority’s data protection policy in relation to the use of any data that is obtained as a result of this process.

This request will be made in writing in accordance with the form at appendix 1 of this policy. It will be posted or emailed to the contact address of the authority that entered those details (the first authority) which will be detailed in the register.

When this authority receives a request for further information from another authority a clear written record will be made of the request having been received. This record will not be combined with any other records (i.e. combined with a register of licences granted) and will be retained for the retention period of 25 years.

This authority will then determine how to respond to the request. It is not lawful to simply provide information as a blanket response to every request.

This authority will conduct a Data Protection Impact Assessment. This will consider how the other authority (the second authority) will use the data, how it will store that data to prevent unauthorised disclosure, the retention period for that data, and the mechanism for erasure or destruction of the data at the end of that period. It is expected that if the second authority has adopted a policy similar to this, that should be a reasonably straightforward process.

If this authority is satisfied that the other authority’s (the 2nd authority) data protection procedures are satisfactory, consideration will then be given as to what information will be disclosed. This will be determined by an officer who has been trained to discharge this function. Any disclosure must be considered and proportionate, taking into account the data subjects’ rights and the position and responsibilities of a taxi driver. Data is held on the NR3 register for a period of 25 years, but this authority (the 1st authority) will not disclose information relating to every entry. Each application will be considered on its own merits.

This authority will disclose information relating to a revocation or refusal to grant a drivers’ licence in accordance with the timescales contained within this council’s ‘Policy on relevance of criminal conduct & unacceptable behaviour (The fit and proper test)’. Where the reason for refusal to grant or revocation relates to a conviction (or similar as defined in the council’s policy) which is within the timescales determined in those guidelines, the information will be disclosed. Where the reason for 98 refusal to grant or revocation relates to a conviction (or similar as defined in the council’s policy) which is outside the timescales determined in those guidelines, the information will not be disclosed. However, in every case, consideration will be given to the full circumstances of the decision and there may be occasions where information is provided other than in accordance with this policy.

Any information about convictions will be shared in accordance with this policy under part 2 of scheduled 1 to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018; that is, the processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest in connection with the exercise of a function conferred on the authority by an enactment or rule of law.

The officer will record what action was taken and why. This authority will make and then retain a clear written record of every decision that is made as a result of a request from another authority. This will detail:

• the date the request was received
• how the data protection impact assessment was conducted and its conclusions
• the name or names searched
• whether any information was provided
• if information was provided, why it was provided (and details of any further advice obtained before the decision was made)
• if information was not provided, why it was not provided (and details of any further advice obtained before the decision was made) and
• how and when the decision (and any information) was communicated to the requesting authority

When this authority receives information as a result of a request that has been made to another authority, it will take that information into account when determining the application for the grant or renewal of a taxi drivers’ licence. This will be in accordance with the council’s usual process for determining applications.

This authority will make and then retain a clear written record of the use that is made of the results of the search (this information will be added to the register detailed above). Information that is received may warrant significant weight being attached to it, but it will not be the sole basis for any decision that this authority will make in relation to the application.