Taxi licensing driver suitability consultation

Overview

We want to hear the views of the public, our licensees, and other partners on potential changes to the Buckinghamshire Council hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy concerning driver suitability. 

We introduced the first hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy for Buckinghamshire in September 2021.  The policy sets out how we regulate taxis (hackney carriage vehicles) and minicabs (private hire vehicles) across Buckinghamshire (excluding Milton Keynes).   

The current hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy (Buckinghamshire Council website).

In 2024, we reviewed this policy following publication of the new Department for Transport best practice guidance on taxi licensing. As part of this review we consulted the public and our partners on possible policy changes between 16 September and 24 November 2024.

However, in this previous review and consultation we did not address our policy concerning applicants with criminal or unacceptable behaviour histories (Appendix 4 of the current policy). This was because we were waiting for the publication of the Institute of Licensing's revised guidance on this policy area. This revised Suitability Guidance was published in November 2024.          

Why we want to hear from you

Although it isn't a legal requirement to follow the Institute of Licensing Suitability Guidance, it does represent current national best practice in this important policy area, which is why we rely on it to inform our own policy on driver suitability.

Now the Suitability Guidance has been revised, we are now seeking your opinion on possible revisions to our policy that would reflect the changes in the revised version of the guidance.

What we are asking

We want to hear your views on the following areas of driver suitability policy: 

• licensing people with criminal convictions
• licensing in relation to drug-related offences and dependency
• licensing and motoring offences
• licensing where there has been regulatory non-compliance
• licensing and unacceptable behaviour

All questions on the policy are optional, so you can skip any section you don't want to answer. 

Related documents and links

Before you respond to this activity, please have a look at the following documents and web links:

• Revised Suitability Guidance (Institute of Licensing website) 
• Our current policy on criminal convictions and unacceptable behaviour (Buckinghamshire Council website)
• Report to the Buckinghamshire Council Licensing Committee (PDF 0.3MB) 

How to have your say  

You can tell us your views in one of the following ways: 

• complete the online survey using the link at the end of the page
• complete, and return, a printed version of the survey (PDF 0.3MB)
• email us at taxilicensing@buckinghamshire.gov.uk
• write to us at Taxi Licensing, Buckinghamshire Council, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP19 8FF

If you have any questions about this activity, or require this information in another format or language, please email us at taxilicensing@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or phone us on 01296 585605.

Please tell us your views by 11:59 on 9 March 2025. 

What happens next 

Once the consultation has closed, we will review the responses we have received.

We will then bring these responses together with the responses to our earlier taxi licensing consultation (16 September to 24 November 2024) and develop a draft revision of the entire taxi licensing policy.

Privacy

We will use the information you provide here only for this activity. We will store the information securely in line with data protection laws and will not share or publish any personal details. For more information about data and privacy, please see our privacy policy.

If you have questions about data and privacy, please email us on dataprotection@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or write to our Data Protection Officer at Buckinghamshire Council, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8FF.