Over 12,000 taxi and PHV driver licensing actions entered on National Register of Refusals, Revocations and Suspensions database

English licensing authorities made 12,200 entries on the National Register of Refusals, Revocations and Suspensions during the year ending 31 March 2026, according to Department for Transport data.

The entries concern drivers whose taxi or private hire licences were refused, revoked or suspended. The register allows another council to identify that previous action if the same person later applies for a licence in its area.

NR3S is maintained by the National Anti-Fraud Network and is used by licensing authorities during driver licence applications. Its purpose is to prevent important licensing histories from remaining hidden when an applicant moves between council areas.

The 12,200 entries were equivalent to approximately 0.03 records for every active taxi and private hire driver licence in England. There were 417,300 driver licences on issue as of 1 April 2026.

However, it is worth noting that the figures should not be interpreted as showing that action was taken against 3% of licensed drivers. The total covers database entries rather than unique people, and refused applicants may never have held an active licence.

Some drivers also hold licences from more than one authority. It is therefore possible for records linked to the same person to appear in licensing activity involving different councils.

The DfT data does not separate refusals, revocations and suspensions. It is not possible from the headline figure to establish how many entries concerned applicants refused their first licence, existing drivers removed from the trade or drivers suspended for a limited period.

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An NR3S entry is not a national ban. If a driver applies elsewhere, the new licensing authority must consider the previous decision and make its own assessment of whether the applicant is fit and proper.

The register gives that authority access to information which could affect its decision. This is particularly important in a system where licensing standards, policies and decision-making can vary between councils.

Without a national record, an applicant could potentially approach another authority without disclosing an earlier refusal or revocation. NR3S gives councils a route to identify that history and contact the authority responsible for the original decision.

Alongside the 12,200 entries, licensing authorities carried out 245,200 NR3S searches between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026. This was equivalent to around 0.6 searches per active driver licence.

Use of the database became mandatory for English licensing authorities on 27 April 2023. It had previously been optional and remains voluntary in Wales.

The DfT warned that differences between authorities should be treated cautiously. Entry totals may vary because of the number of applications handled, the size of the locally licensed trade and the number of refusals, suspensions or revocations made during the year.

A council recording fewer entries has not necessarily failed to update the database. It may simply have taken fewer relevant licensing decisions.

The figures are described as management information rather than official statistics. They measure operational activity on NR3S and do not provide details about the conduct, allegations or evidence behind each entry.

The Department is now considering ending future publication of the authority-level NR3S table now that use of the database is mandatory in England.

Removing the table would make it harder for councillors, trade representatives and the public to examine how many records individual authorities add. Although raw entry totals cannot be used as a performance league table, continued publication provides a level of transparency around a database central to driver licensing checks.

The DfT is inviting views on whether the data should remain available.