A PHO Licence is required to take bookings and dispatch PHV’s to customers. Licences are issued to an individual(s) and relate to the specific address of the private hire office.
Please note that no PHO licences will be issued for premises that are located outside of the council’s administrative area.
"Operate" means in the course of business to make provision for the invitation or acceptance of bookings for a hire car (Section 80 LGMPA 1976).
Every operator of PHV’s must be licensed by the council (Section 46 LGMPA 1976).
The council cannot grant a licence unless it is satisfied that.
The fit and proper test applied for a PHO is; “Would I be comfortable providing sensitive information such as holiday plans, movement of my family or other information to this person, and feel safe in the knowledge that such information will not be used or passed on for criminal or unacceptable purposes?”
This fit and proper test will also be applied to the directors and secretaries of limited companies, and to this end, directors and secretaries of such companies will be required to provide a basic disclosure from the DBS on an annual basis.
PHO’s licences can be transferred to an alternative address within the borough, however, there is no provision to transfer the licence to an individual or company. An application must be made for a new licence in these circumstances.
All bookings taken for PHV’s must be done through a licensed PHO’s booking office, known as the 'operating base' this can be from either home addresses or public offices; however, tenants must obtain permission from their landlords.
No PHO licence will be issued until consent has been received from the planning authority that the operation of the business from the premises is acceptable (i.e. planning permission must be obtained).
A PHO licence, if granted, is issued for a period of five years.
Please note that the PHO’s licence, vehicles used, and drivers employed must all be licensed with the same council.
Section 11 of the Deregulation Act 2015 allows PHO’s to subcontract to each other across licensing boundaries, therefore allowing PHO’s greater flexibly. Records must be maintained and kept for a period of 12 months substantiating these cross-border bookings and produced upon request by an authorised officer of the council or a police officer.
The triple licence requirement that PHO’s are licensed within a district and must only use vehicles and drivers licensed by the same council as their PHO licence, remains in place.
The following documentation must be submitted:
If you are a licensed driver in Amber Valley it will not be necessary to produce an additional Basic Disclosure Certificate. The council will consider the Enhanced Disclosure Certificate produced at the renewal of your driver’s badge for your operator’s licence.
If a private hire operator licence is applied for by a company or partnership it will be necessary to apply the 'fit and proper' test to each of the directors or partners in that company or partnership. This will require each director or partner to submit a Basic DBS certificate. Operators are required to advise the council of any change in directors or partners.
A private hire operator must provide proof that they are correctly registered for tax purposes by way of providing a tax conditionality check code. You would need to create a Government Gateway ID and password by registering for HMRC Online Services. You will then need to complete a tax check on GOV.UK, following which you will be provided with a 9-digit share code. You will need to provide this code in order for a tax check can be carried out by the authority. A licence cannot be issued until this check has been carried out satisfactorily
All PHO licences are issued for a period of five years and the renewal application must be submitted to the council prior to the expiry of the existing licence or the licence will lapse.
If a PHO continues to take bookings without a licence, they are committing an offence. It is the responsibility of the PHO to ensure that they always have a valid PHO licence in place.
Upon application to renew a PHO licence, a tax conditionality share code will need to be provided so that a further check can be carried out to confirm that you are still registered correctly for tax purposes. A licence cannot be issued until this check has been carried out satisfactorily.
The council may suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew a licence on the following grounds:
Applications for a private hire operators licence must be submitted by post or email to:
Licensing Section
Amber Valley Borough Council
Town Hall
Ripley
Derbyshire
DE5 3BT
Telephone: 01773 570222
Email: licensing@ambervalley.gov.uk
Contact the team directly on 01773 570222 or email licensing@ambervalley.gov.uk
