Private hire drivers' licence documents
All prospective applicants for private hire drivers’ licences must satisfy the city council, as licensing authority, that they are fit and proper persons to hold such a licence.
Prior to licence issue new drivers will require the following:
Please note that you must complete a driving skills assessment within the previous six months of submitting an application and submit the certificate with your application form. If you do not actively pursue your application for six months or more, we will treat it as having been withdrawn. You will need to start again if you later wish to become a licensed driver.
Apply or renew a licence
To apply for a new licence, or to renew your licence, please use the following form:
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Before you fill in this form
You won't be able to save this form to complete later, so please allow yourself at least five minutes to fill in the form.
Please note our Guidance on uploading an image.
You will need to upload the following documents with your application:
Driving licence showing number and date of expiry
Safeguarding training certificate dated within the last three years, if you have completed this
Enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) certificate that is registered with the update service and dated within the last six months, if you have carried out this check
If you do not currently have a Hackney carriage licence with us, you will also need to upload: Passport showing number and date of expiry, if you have one
If you do not currently have a Hackney carriage licence with us, you will also need to upload: Proof of your right to work in the UK, incorporating your national insurance number, such as a P45 or P60
A payment card, Apple Pay or Google Pay*
Apply for or renew a private hire drivers’ licence
Driving assessment
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All our applicants should have passed a driving assessment within the previous six months before they submit their application. Applicants are advised to ensure that their driving is at an acceptable level, at least to DVSA standards prior to taking the test. It may be worth considering refreshing driving skills with an instructor.
Our providers for driving assessments are:
The Blue Lamp Trust
Taxi Driver Tests
The fee for this test is payable to the assessor. A vehicle with appropriate insurance must be provided by the applicant to take the driving assessment. Bookings must be made online. The vehicle may have manual or automatic transmission.
Applicants should note that we cannot issue a licence unless they have held a full UK driving licence (or equivalent) for more than two years and their current licence must be issued in the UK by DVLA.
Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Certificate (DBS)
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All private hire and hackney carriage drivers are required to have an enhanced DBS check and have that DBS on the update service or obtain a new DBS certificate every six months.
A DBS can be obtained at any time using our provider.
48 hours after you have submitted your DBS application and your identification documents have been verified, you will receive an application form number via email. You can use this to apply to the DBS Update Service.
You can subscribe to the update service within 30 days of your new DBS certificate issue date. After this you will need to apply for a new certificate.
Note that we can only accept a certificate that has been requested for the purposes of Other Workforce – Hackney Carriage Driver or Other Workforce – Private Hire Driver.
If you have any questions about obtaining a DBS check then please view the most frequently asked questions.
Safeguarding training
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Drivers are required to obtain safeguarding training from one of our approved providers within the last three years.
All private hire and hackney carriage drivers are required to undergo safeguarding training to an approved standard. The course must be a classroom or virtual classroom course as approved by Southampton City Council. This may also be done online in a virtual classroom using Teams, Zoom or similar video conferencing facilities. Note that eLearning courses are not acceptable.
Our current providers for an approved safeguarding course are:
The Blue Lamp Trust
Personnel Checks
Medical
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All medical reports must be completed within the last 4 months by either your General Practitioner (GP) with whom you are registered (your Doctor) or one of our approved medical providers (listed below). If you use an approved provider, you will need to obtain your medical summery from your own GP and take this to your appointment.
Our medical form is required to be completed for all new applicants for hackney carriage or private hire driver's licences and when licensed drivers are aged 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, and annually thereafter, in line with DVLA best practice guidelines. The medical form is available from our offices or can be downloaded below.
Our approved medical providers are:
D4Drivers (Rymans Ltd)
Website: D4Drivers
Telephone: 0300 3030 668
Regency Medical - Portsmouth (Medique Limited)
Website: Regency Medical
Telephone: 0203 734 3629
Download our medical form.
National Vocational Qualification in Road Passenger Transport (or equivalent) (BTEC) (or equivalent) qualification
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All drivers are required to obtain this qualification within six months of being issued a hackney carriage or private hire licence. We advise drivers to obtain this prior to application but we will licence a driver without this for a period of six months whilst they complete their course.
Courses are available all over the country by various suppliers. We have found some local providers to assist applicants but you can choose to go wherever you wish. Please note that Southampton City Council does not recommend or endorse any particular BTEC provider:
Bfluent School of English
Private Hire Academy
N-Gaged Training & Recruitment
Upton Training
Value Group Training Services
Anyone who drives a licensed private hire vehicle must hold a licence to do so from the city council, in every circumstance. This is because the vehicle remains licensed whether or not it is hired or available for hire.
More information on private hire drivers’ licences
The council has adopted a taxi policy. Appendix 4 of that policy details the policy & conditions for private hire drivers' licences
Drivers Code of Conduct
In order to promote the image of the hackney carriage and private hire trades, the Council has adopted a Code of Good Conduct, which should be read in conjunction with the other statutory, policy and condition requirements set by the authority.
The council is required by law to maintain a public register of hackney carriage driver licences. The council publishes this register as it considers that there is public interest in making the register available online. The register is required to contain the name of the licence holder.
If you feel that the publication of your information on the online version of the register adversely affects your interests, rights, and freedoms, you can raise an objection to this. Details of how to raise an objection can be found on the council’s website.
