Read our taxi licensing policy
All information relating to hackney carriage or private hire licensing in the district is available in our Joint Taxi Licensing Policy. For details on how we use data relating to licence holders and applicants, please see our privacy notice for licence holders and applicants on our Useful Documents page.
We suggest you apply at least 12 weeks before the expiry of your licence to allow us to carry out all the required checks. If your licence expires before a new one is issued, you will be unlicensed and you must not drive any licensed vehicles, even for non-work purposes, until you receive a new licence and badge.
We aim to start processing this type of application within four weeks of receipt. If you do not hear anything from us within this timescale, please email us with the date you applied, the payment reference, your badge number and your badge expiry date so we can track your application.
If you need to extend a licence which is based on a temporary right to work in the UK, please submit a completed application form with your photocard driving licence and evidence to support your current right to work in the UK by email (see Step 8 for our email address) and we will contact you to take payment. We recommend these applications are submitted at least 6 weeks before the expiry of your badge to allow time for any Home Office checks that may be required.
Book the disability awareness and safeguarding training course
All driver licence applicants are required to have attended the disability awareness and safeguarding training course within the last three years. If you have already done the course run by OCC in the last three years, you will not need to do it again until just before the three year period expires.
To book a place on a course, and for full details of the training, please see safeguarding and disability awareness training for drivers.
Once you’ve passed the course, please send us the certificate by email.
Do you need a medical?
If you are under 45 then the medical certificate you provided when you first applied to be a taxi driver is likely still valid, so you do not need to worry about this stage.
If you are over 45 years of age you need to have a medical examination every five years (from the date of the last medical).
If you are over 65, you will need a medical every year.
If you need to book a medical examination, please contact your GP. A fee will be payable for this examination which would be paid directly to the doctor’s surgery. If your GP surgery does not do Group 2 medicals, you can go to any other doctor registered with the GMC provided they have access to your full medical records at the time of the medical.
Before going to the medical examination, you will need to print out the medical examination form and take it with you to your appointment. You will then need to ask the doctor to complete it for you. Before leaving the appointment, please check the doctor has completed the entire form including the front sheet. We often have to reject medicals due to them being incomplete.
Some drivers have certain medical conditions that may require them having more frequent medicals. For example, if you have diabetes managed by insulin or a sulphonylurea or a glinide, a full medical is required at the usual intervals determined by your age and any other medical conditions, and in addition an annual medical by a consultant specialising in diabetes will be required in accordance with DVLA Group 2 guidelines – for more details please see this annual diabetic medical form and guidance which should be sent to us once complete.
Complete and submit the application form
Please download and complete the hackney carriage and private hire driver licence application form. You need to read the guidance on the form and complete the form in full, ensuring you read each question carefully. Any incomplete or illegible applications will be rejected and will not be processed.
Once complete, you will need to scan the form. If you do not have access to a scanner, you could take a photograph of each page of the form but please note it must be clear and legible or we will not be able to process it.
You can then submit your application form and pay the licence fee through our online application portal.
The portal should work via any smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC with internet access and you will be able to pay the required fee with a debit or credit card.
Important note – If too many large files are uploaded it may exceed the maximum size that the system can email to us. If you have difficulties uploading all your documents and do not receive a confirmation email from us (separate from your receipt) with your uploaded files attached then please contact us at licensing.unit@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Enhanced DBS disclosure
All applicants will need to provide an original enhanced DBS disclosure which has this council as countersignatory and is also registered with the DBS Update Service.
If you already have this, please send us a scan or photo of this with your application. If you have lost your original disclosure certificate, you will need to do a new DBS application. If you did not subscribe to the Update Service or have let your subscription lapse, you will need to do a new DBS application.
If you need a new DBS, you can apply for this online through Taxiplus. If you have any queries about how to apply and provide the documents, please see the Taxiplus FAQs page. You must use this link, as disclosures from other providers will not be accepted.
Attend your appointment
Once we have received and reviewed your application form we will contact you to arrange an appointment when we will ask you to bring the following supporting documents:
- Your original application form
- A passport photo
- A full valid UK/EEA driving licence
- A medical report – if required (see Step 3)
- Your original DBS Enhanced Disclosure certificate, applied for through this council and signed up to the DBS Update Service (unless you have applied for an online DBS through Taxiplus, see Step 5)
- Proof of your right to work in the UK (see guidance on the application form)
If you don’t bring the appropriate documents, we will not be able to complete the appointment. Please read your appointment email carefully as it will advise you which documents to bring with you.
If there are restrictions on the length of time you may work in the UK, your licence will not be issued for any longer than this period. In such circumstances, the check will be repeated each time you apply to renew or extend your licence. If, during this period, you are disqualified from holding a licence because you have not complied with the UK’s immigration laws, your licence will lapse and you must return it to the council. Failure to do so is a criminal offence.
If you have spent more than three months out of the UK since the age of 10, or if you moved to the UK since the age of 10, you will be required to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct.
After the appointment
If a new DBS application was made, when you receive your DBS disclosure you must subscribe to the DBS Update Service within 28 days, as this is a condition of any licence granted.
If you applied for your disclosure through Taxiplus, you will only need to send us the original disclosure if there are any convictions or cautions listed on the document. If the DBS is clear, we will receive notification of this directly from Taxiplus and you will not need to send in the document.
If you applied for your disclosure on a paper application form, you will need to send us the original DBS disclosure (we recommend you send this by tracked mail) so that we can complete the processing of your application. We will return this to you as soon as we have processed the document.
Once all documents are in order, the application will be reviewed by an officer and if all is in order, we will issue your licence and badge and contact you to arrange a time for you to collect these from the office.
Further information
If you have any questions please email licensing.unit@whitehorsedc.gov.uk or call 01235 422556 (you will need to leave a message with your name and number and we will call you back).
