Criminal Record or Disclosure and Barring Service Checks- DBS
When submitting an application applicants are required to declare ALL convictions/cautions or fixed penalty notices or endorsements they may have. The information they give will be treated in the strictest confidence and will only be taken into account in relation to their application. To knowingly or recklessly make a false statement or omit any material particular from an application, or any document submitted with it, is an offence punishable on conviction by a fine.
Drivers (but not Operators) are exempt from the protection of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, meaning that ALL convictions will be taken into consideration. Where a driver is renewing a licence and previous convictions have already been considered by committee these will not be revisited unless pertinent to any new convictions or any fresh complaint or behaviour.
The council is empowered by law to check with the DBS for the existence and content of any criminal record held in the name of an applicant. Information received from the DBS is kept in strict confidence while the licensing process takes its course and will be retained for no longer than is necessary.
DBS checks must originate through the Chorley Council or through a company contracted by the Council to carry out this check, as authorised by the DBS, an electronic DBS and updates will be accepted.
Checks on criminal records may take up to four weeks before being returned to licensing authorities. Licences will not be granted in the absence of a DBS Certificate.
Applicants may be given the option to pay an additional fee for a quick electronic check, which will identify if there are any changes since the previous DBS, the DBS Certificate number will be required. Where no changes are identified the licence may be issued without sight of the full DBS certificate. Where changes are identified then no licence will be granted until the full DBS certificate has been provided to the Council.
Once the DBS certificate has been issued the applicant MUST apply for the licence within 3 Months.
The disclosure of a criminal record or other information may not debar an applicant from gaining a licence unless the Council considers that the matters disclosed render the applicant unfit to hold a licence. The Council’s Safeguarding, Suitability and Convictions Statement of Policy for Taxi Licensing’ (Appendix 2) will be used to guide applicants and the sub-Committee when determining applicants from those with criminal convictions or any other matters raised by the police on the DBS.
Any licensed taxi driver shall notify the Council in writing of any conviction or caution recorded against him/her and/or the imposition of any endorsement or fixed penalty within 7 days of such conviction or caution or penalty being imposed. This requirement is a condition of a private hire driver’s licence. Failure to do so may result in enforcement action, referral to committee or delays in renewal of licences.