To drive a Hackney carriage (taxi), or a private hire vehicle (minicab) you must be licensed as a driver. We only issue a “dual driver licence”, which means that you are able to drive both Hackney carriages or private hire vehicles licensed by us.
The licence allows you to work anywhere in the country, but the vehicles you drive must be licensed here too. If you work for a private hire company they must also hold a private hire operator's licence with us (Ashfield District Council).
There are a number of mandatory checks that are carried out as part of the application process, and these include:
If you have a criminal record or have been convicted of motoring offences, then there is less chance of you being granted a licence. You should refer to our
to check whether anything on your criminal record or DVLA Driver Licence would lessen your chances of being successful with your application.
All new applicants are required to provide evidence that they possess an adequate knowledge of both written and spoken English, by way of a Recognised Educational Qualification / English Language Assessment when submitting their new Taxi Driver application.
The acceptable minimal level qualification is ESOL English Language Entry Level 2.
A full list of acceptable educational qualifications / assessment certificates / and details of face-to-face and online assessment providers can be found:
Not everyone may have a relevant certificate/qualification, or may not be able to find their old Certificate.
In such cases you can:
If (when submitting your new Taxi Driver application and supporting documents at your virtual appointment) you fail to provide a copy of your assessment certificate/educational qualification, or have not yet undertaken a course to obtain the necessary certificate/qualification to prove that your written and oral English language skills meet with our minimum standard, your application will be refused and rejected.
Just follow this 6 steps guide, in the order that it is written:
If you have any questions about obtaining a DBS check then please see the frequently asked questions:
Choose the right option from the list, and pay the application fee.
You must pay the appropriate fee before the date of your virtual appointment.
It is your responsibility to prove to us that you have followed the instructions that are provided, as this has a bearing on your suitability to be granted a taxi driver badge.
If your application is deemed by the Licensing Officer to be complete, then we will carry out any necessary background checks to ensure that we would be able to grant you a new taxi driver badge.
Applicants who fail to disclose relevant matters that would be found through our extensive background checks, will be rejected. You must declare all historic and current motoring convictions, criminal cautions/convictions, and state if you currently hold or have ever held a taxi driver badge with any other Council, and whether you have ever had any other taxi driver badge revoked or any taxi driver application refused. It is an offence to fail to declare any relevant information.
If all of the background checks are deemed to be satisfactory, then you will be sent information to complete our online knowledge test and online safeguarding test. Use your driver application pack to help you answer the questions in both tests.
If you pass both of the online tests and we are satisfied that there is no other information relating to your application that we are awaiting (for example references from other Councils or agencies), we'll grant your new taxi driver badge and licence, and post them to your home address.
The Knowledge test is completed online and consists of questions relating to the rules and regulations of driving a Hackney carriage or private hire vehicle, an assessment of your English Language skills, and an assessment of your mathematics skills.
The Safeguarding test is completed online and consists of questions relating to your responsibilities as a Taxi drivers to ensure the safety of vulnerable passengers.
As a Taxi driver you will need to be aware as to the indicators of risk that would enable you to identify a person who is at risk of abuse, neglect, trafficking, and to whom to raise your concerns.
You must be fit enough to carry out the demands of the job including carrying luggage or helping passengers in wheelchairs. Some medical conditions mean you are not allowed to drive professionally.
The medical form you submit makes sure we know of any health conditions, or reasons why you might not be able to do the work. The form should be signed by a doctor and existing licence holders must renew their medical form at the ages of 45, 50, 55, 60 and 65, and annually thereafter. We can ask for a medical form to be submitted more often if we think it is needed.
There are few elements which need paying for in order to get your dual Hackney carriage and private hire driver licence. You can pay by debit or credit card through our online system when you've submitted your application or at other times.
New 1-year Hackney Carriage & Private Hire (Dual) Driver Licence
New 2-year Hackney Carriage & Private Hire (Dual) Driver Licence
New 3-year Hackney Carriage & Private Hire (Dual) Driver Licence
Renewal of 1-year Hackney Carriage & Private Hire (Dual) Driver Licence
Renewal of 2-year Hackney Carriage & Private Hire (Dual) Driver Licence
Renewal of 3-year Hackney Carriage & Private Hire (Dual) Driver Licence
Replacement Identity Badge
Driver Knowledge Test Resit Fee
Safeguarding Test Resit Fee
Amendment to licence
Copy of licence
With a Ashfield District Council taxi and private hire dual driver licence you can drive a Hackney carriage or a drive a private hire vehicle – the vehicles must be also be licensed by us.
If you drive a Hackney carriage you can be hailed in the streets or wait at ranks in the Ashfield area, and do pre-booked work anywhere in the country. If you drive a private hire vehicle, all your work must be given to you by a private hire operator licensed by us.
We do not currently licence companies such as Uber or Bolt, so the only way you can work for them with our Taxi Driver Badge will be if you licensed a fully wheelchair accessible vehicle as a Hackney Carriage with us.
If you have a question about licensing or want to make a complaint about a taxi or private hire operator, vehicle or driver, you can contact us by: