Hackney carriage drivers

We will grant licences if we are satisfied that you are:

  • eligible to work in the UK
  • fit and proper to hold such a licence
  • not disqualified by reason of your immigration status from driving a private hire or hackney carriage vehicle.

We may refuse to renew a licence on the following grounds where, since the grant of the licence, the driver has been:

  • convicted of an offence involving dishonesty, indecency or violence
  • an offence under or has failed to comply with the provisions of the town police clauses act 1847 or of part ii of the local government miscellaneous provisions act 1976
  • an immigration offence or required to pay an immigration penalty or any other reasonable cause

Visit the new taxi driver’s licence application guide on our website for further information or email taxis@crawley.gov.uk for more information. Our phone service is open between 10am and 12 noon and again between 2 and 4pm. Call: 01293 438944.

National taxi register

We record details of where a private hire vehicle or hackney carriage licence has been refused, revoked or suspended in a national taxi register. We also check new applicants against the register.

Read more about the National Register of Refusals, Revocations and Suspensions (NR3S) on our National taxi register page.

Declarations

As part of the application you are asked about your convictions and cautions. Amendments in 2013 to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 states that certain spent convictions and cautions are protected and are not subject to disclosure to us as part of this application, and cannot be taken into account. 

This means that when deciding whether you are a fit and proper person to hold a licence, we are entitled to consider all your convictions and cautions, even those which are spent, except for any convictions or cautions which are protected. If you have a conviction or caution and are unsure whether it is protected, contact a solicitor or .

It is a criminal offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement or omit any relevant material when providing information in this application.

Contact a solicitor or ask the licensing officer if you’re unsure about what you should declare.

Email taxis@crawley.gov.uk for more information.