REFUSALS: Government offers taxi licensing authorities free access to mandatory NR3S database

The Government’s Secretary of State for Transport has contacted all licensing authorities to confirm free access to the mandatory taxi and private hire (PHV) National Register for Revocations, Refusals and Suspensions (NR3S).

It was also announced that the National Anti-Fraud Network will act as the database provider for the complex system which many authorities have already signed up to voluntarily.

The Department for Transport (DfT) published its Statutory Standards for Taxi and Private Hire Licensing back in July 2020. One of the standards advised councils and licensing authorities on the use of the National Register of Taxi Licence Revocations and Refusals (the ‘NR3 database’) to enhance effective due diligence when making licensing decisions.

The database provides details of all taxi and private hire driver licence revocation and refusal decisions taken from 1 January 2018.

The Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper, wrote in a letter to all licensing authorities: “To assist with this new mandatory requirement, I am pleased to announce that my department is covering the cost of access to the NR3S. All licensing authorities will be given access to the NR3S for free. If your authority is not consistently using the NR3S, you should review your processes to enable your authority to comply with the law when it comes into effect.”

The Transport Secretary intends to start the remaining provisions of the Act on 27 April 2023, which gives the final few authorities who do not currently have access to the NR3S time to put the appropriate processes in place.