DfT Letter - Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022

Dear Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing Authorities,

On 31 March 2022, the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022 received Royal Assent. The Act places duties on licensing authorities to improve information-sharing regarding taxi and private hire vehicle drivers. Some of the duties came into force on 31 May 2022. My department has been working to bring the remaining duties which require licensing authorities to use a licensing information database to record refusals, suspensions and revocations of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licences into force. The Act enables me to either provide the database or to designate a person to do so.

I am pleased to announce that my department has reached an agreement to designate the National Anti-Fraud Network as the database provider under Section 4(1)(a) of the Act. The National Anti-Fraud Network’s database, the National Register for Revocations, Refusals and Suspensions (NR3S), has been in use successfully for several years and use of it is recommended in the Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards which licensing authorities must have regard to. As a result, the vast majority of licensing authorities, including your own, already have access to the NR3S.

Furthermore, to assist with this new mandatory requirement, I am pleased to announce that my department is covering the cost of access to the NR3S. All licensing authorities will be given access to the NR3S for free. If your authority is not consistently using the NR3S, you should review your processes to enable your authority to comply with the law when it comes into effect.

I intend to commence the remaining provisions of the Act on 27 April 2023 to give those final few authorities who do not currently have access to the NR3S time to put the appropriate processes in place. When the remaining duties on licensing authorities come into force, all licensing authorities will be required to use the NR3S to record taxi and private hire vehicle driver licences that have been refused, suspended or revoked for safeguarding or road safety reasons. The statutory guidance issued to licensing authorities in May 2022 to support them in complying with the Act will be updated to reflect these new duties.

Finally, I would like to thank those licensing authorities who have been actively using the NR3S in recent years on a voluntary basis. This has ensured that more authorities have more of the information needed to make correct decisions to effectively regulate the taxi and private hire vehicle trades and protect the travelling public.

If you need any assistance relating to accessing or using the NR3S, please contact licencehelp@nafn.gov.uk. For queries relating to the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022, please contact my officials at TaxisandPHVs@dft.gov.uk

From the Secretary of State

The Rt Hon Mark Harper MP

Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London
SW1P 4DR

Tel: 0300 330 3000
E-Mail: mark.harper@dft.gov.uk
Web site: www.gov.uk/dft