The cost of a 3 year badge (new and renewal applications) is £266.

Licences usually issued to last for 3 years. 

We will automatically send you a reminder before your licence is due to expire.

For a new hackney or private hire driver's licence you will need to:

• book an appointment for a Knowledge Test, a payment link will be sent when the booking is confirmed. 
• once knowledge test passed complete an application form 

You can view our privacy notice here

• provide a copy of your full UK driving licence.
• Provide an SSDC driving assessment pass certificate.
• provide a Safeguarding Certificate 
• provide a completed medical questionnaire
• provide a Disability Awareness Course pass certificate
• provide a certificate of good conduct (if you have lived outside the UK for more than 6 months in the last 10 years).
• provide a passport-sized photograph
• email the form and above supporting documents to licensing@southsomerset.gov.uk where once accepted we will send you a payment link. 
• Please read information about tax conditionality checks
• Our taxi licence and private hire policy can be read here
• The statutory guidance can be found here

After you have submitted your application, uploaded all the required information and made a payment, we will arrange for you to complete and pay for an online DBS application.

If we grant your licence, we will send it to you along with a driver’s badge.

To ensure potential drivers have a good working knowledge of the area and of the Highway Code, all new drivers will be required to pass a test of knowledge. This will include questions on:

• The Highway Code
• Hackney Carriage and Private Hire legislation
• Basic numeracy
• English comprehension
• Routes and directions

The pass mark is 75%, but there is also a requirement that 75% of the questions in each section are answered correctly. The test is made up of 52 multiple choice questions and you will have an hour to sit the test.

The test costs £31 and can be booked by emailing licensing@southsomerset.gov.uk with your name and contact details. If you do not pass first time, you will have to wait two weeks to sit the test again. If you fail on the second attempt, you will have to wait a further two weeks to re-sit, and if you fail a third time, you will have to wait six months before attempting the test again.

For help with the knowledge test, you can visit these websites:

The Highway Code

Knowledge Test Example Questions

Discover South Somerset

All new drivers will need a medical examination by reference to the extant Group II standards of medical fitness applied by the DVLA.

A new medical will need to be submitted on initial application and then every five years on renewal following your 45^th birthday (no more than 2 month after turning 45), and then each renewal following your 65^th birthday (no more than 2 months after turning 65). We will remind you when your next medical is due. 

Disability Awareness Training for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles.

We will need you to submit a pass certificate from a recognised training provider to demonstrate that you have attended a suitable course.

The organisations listed below can provide Disability Awareness Training:

Equo Disability Awareness Training (online course)

Disability Awareness Classroom Course | THE BLUE LAMP TRUST

It is a requirement for new applicants to complete safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults training. 

Please use the following links to arrange the training. Please provide the certificate with your application. 

safeguarding-elearning | THE BLUE LAMP TRUST

Safeguarding Training For Taxi Drivers | Online CSE Course (highspeedtraining.co.uk)

• We have an made an arrangement with Mr Bryan Booth who is a qualified driving instructor. To book your test please contact Bryan Booth directly on 07970857027.
• In order to pass the test you are not allowed any serious or dangerous faults, and you are only allowed to make a maximum of eight minor faults.
• The test will last approximately 40 minutes and will be taken in the examiners own vehicle.
• The test will start with an eye test and you will be required to read a number plate from 20.5 metres.
• You will be asked to demonstrate your ability to do the following: A taxi turn chosen by you - i.e. a turn in the road, a reverse around a corner or a U-turn, An emergency stop, A pull away on a hill, A pull away on the flat, A pull away from behind a parked car, Two cabology questions, Three Highway Code questions and Four questions on identification of road signs and markings.
• You will be expected to show good control of the vehicle and excellent observational skills throughout the test

The level of DBS check required for a hackney carriage/private hire badge is Enhanced (other workforce).

To renew your DBS or have your first one completed you will need to provide us with your email address.

Email licensing@southsomerset.gov.uk with the email address you wish to use, once we have this we then set you up on our third party companies website where you will complete an online form.

You will then need to take selected verification documents to the Post Office for them to verify. 

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is every 6 months.

If you have signed up to the update service (the update service is where you can register your application or certificate for an annual fee of £13 and we can check the details online) we will check your current certificate online.

If you haven’t signed up to the update service we suggest that you do this so you don’t have to apply for a new certificate for each check DBS Update Service - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Please note that when the online check is carried out we only see if the information contained on the certificate which is registered with the service is the same, or has changed so it is important that you keep hold of the certificate (especially if was obtained through a different Council or organisation). 

We will contact you when a check is required.

Statutory guidance introduced in July 2020 says that licensing authorities should check licence holders via the update service every 6 months and if licence holders are not registered with the update service they should be subject to a DBS check every 6 months

Here is a link to the statutory guidance Statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If you are an existing driver you are required to notify us of any changes in address within one week.

Please complete this form and email to licensing@southsomerset.gov.uk 

If you have lost or damaged your driver badge you need to report this to Licensing immediately and apply for a replacement, for which there is charge.  Contact Licensing for more details.