This Act makes it mandatory for licensing authorities to access vital background information about drivers seeking a taxi/private hire vehicle (PHV) licence in their areas, which allows licensing authorities to check new applicants against a register and make an informed decision on whether an applicant is fit and proper. The register being used is called NR3, and is already widely used by licensing authorities and has proven effective in identifying applicant backgrounds. In this case the simple objective of NR3 is to provide a mechanism for licensing authorities to record details of where a taxi or PHV drivers’ licence has previously been refused or revoked.
There is a long-standing issue in the taxi and PHV licensing system, whereby individuals who have had their licences revoked or refused by a local authority, for example for serious safeguarding or driving offenses, can simply apply for a licence with another local authority. NR3 is a vital tool in tackling this. Before the introduction of NR3, there was no central database of drivers’ history of revocations and refusals, and local authorities had to rely on applicants to self-disclose this information. As a result, crucial intelligence could be missed, which could pose a potential risk to public safety.
