What do I get?

Pre-Application advice and assistance for this application may include the following:

•  Advice and assistance in completing the application including:
  o Advice on appropriate conditions, and Policy requirements
  o Requirements of an application.
  o Advice on legislative requirements
  o Advice on licensing potential, in line with current legislation/policy o Suitability of an application.
  o Other information requested upon application.

You will receive a written report based on your application requirements within 10 working days of submission.
Should you require a face to face meeting this can be arranged.

Right to work in the UK explained

8). Your right to work will be checked as part of your application and this could involve us checking your immigration status with the Home Office.

We may otherwise share information with the Home Office.

Your licence application will not be determined until you have complied with this guidance.

Where you are unable to provide adequate documentation to evidence your right to work in the UK, you must demonstrate your right to work via the Home Office online right to work checking service, applicants should include in this application their 9-digit share code (provided to them upon accessing the service at https://www.gov.uk/prove-right-to-work which, along with the applicant’s date of birth (provided within this application), will allow the licensing authority to carry out the check.

In order to establish the applicant’s right to work, the check will need to indicate that the applicant is allowed to work in the United Kingdom and is not subject to a condition preventing them from doing work relating to the carrying on of a licensable activity.

HMRC checks explained

9). From 4 April 2022, individuals, companies and any type of partnership must complete a HMRC tax check and give their licensing authority a tax check code if they are:

• Applying for a grant of a licence and renewing a licence
• Applying for the same type of licence they previously held, that ceased to be valid less than a year ago
• Applying for the same type of licence they already hold with another licensing authority

Each individual, partner, or company director applying for a licence must provide HMRC check codes for each associated individual applying for a licence.

Failure to provide the HMRC check code within 28 days of the Authorities request, will result in that licence remaining expired upon its specified expiry date, the application being refused.

HMRC check codes can be generated here.

About NR3

NR3 provides a mechanism for licensing authorities to share details of individuals who have had a hackney carriage or private hire licence revoked or an application for one refused. This helps to prevent persons who have had a licence refused or revoked from going to another authority to dishonestly secure a licence by failing to disclose their previous licensing history.

From 2022, we will begin using NR3. This means that from that point:

• All driver licence applicants will be checked on the NR3
• Where an existing licence is revoked, or a driver licence application is refused (both new and renewal), this will be recorded on NR3
• Any historic information we hold on refusals and revocations of licences will be added to the        register. Historic data will not go back beyond the retention period of seven years

As part of this process, it is intended that the details of your previous licence revocation/refusal will be added to the register in 28 days’ time from commencing NR3 use. The information recorded on NR3 in respect of your case is 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 25 years.

Where an applicant’s details are flagged on NR3 during a search, this will be followed up separately between the authorities. Any such request in relation to your record will be responded to in accordance with the Data Protection Act (DPA), the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), and our privacy notice for licence holders and applicants can be found in this form.

The legal basis for processing this information is that it 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 private hire licence.

Licensing authorities will still be required to consider each application on its own merits, but the introduction of NR3 will help ensure that they are able to do so on the basis of all the information that is relevant to an application

Disclaimer
1) The final decision is made by Council Officers/Members or under delegated authority after the application has been submitted, and subject to any consultation period. You should therefore be aware that the council’s officers are unable to give any guarantees about the decision that will be made in relation to applications.

2) This service only applies to pre-application assistance therefore ceases to apply once the application is submitted.

3) The council will not deal with your request for assistance until we receive payment.

4) A new case officer (i.e. different from the officer providing pre-application advice) will be assigned once you have submitted your licensing application.

5) The confidentiality of information provided to the council cannot be guaranteed because it is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act as the council may be obligated to disclose information about pre-application assistance requests and the advice we have provided.

In order for The Council to process your data for the aforementioned purpose, we are required to have your consent.
By providing your consent, your rights under current data protection legislation are unaffected.

Click here to view our Privacy Policy.

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Please note that the confidentiality of information held by the Council can’t be guaranteed. We may receive requests under the Freedom of Information Act to disclose information about pre-application advice requests and the advice that we have provided. If you consider your inquiry to be confidential, please set out the reasons why, and for what period, any information about the enquiry needs to remain confidential. If you submit a request for confidentiality and we receive an application for disclosure, we will take your request into account when deciding whether to release the information.
More information about the Freedom of Information Act can be found here: www.legislation.gov.uk.

To make a request for pre-application advice please complete the enquiry form below providing as much information as possible.