Private hire operator licences

You now need to complete a tax check on GOV.UK when you apply or renew your licence.

You must have a private hire operator licence to dispatch a private hire vehicle to a customer. An operator must make sure all vehicles and drivers have the necessary licences.

What you will need to apply for a licence

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) basic check certificate
your business must operate within the West Oxfordshire District Council area

Costs

Licence Fees and Charges 2024 to 2025 - pdf - 176 Kb

Renew a licence

To renew your licence, return the form to us at least 7 days before your licence expires.

It is your responsibility to check the expiry date of your licence. We will not send you a reminder or any other documents.

Apply

Application form for a private hire operator's licence - pdf - 302 Kb

Return your completed application form, supporting documents and fee to ers@westoxon.gov.uk

Or you can post them to us at:

Licensing
Environmental and Regulatory Services
Council Offices
Woodgreen
Witney
OX28 1NB

How you can pay:

by phone (01993) 861000
by cheque sent with your application form

We’ll process your application within 2 working days.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks

If you are also a licensed driver in our District, you will not need to provide a DBS check.

If you do need a DBS check, you can apply online. Enter the following details:

organisation reference: COTSWOLD
password: council

You’ll need to send us 3 types of ID to process your application. A full list of the valid ID types is available on GOV.UK.

You must also sign up to the DBS Online Update Service and send your certificate number to the licensing team. We will suspend your licence if you do not.

Our licensing Sub-Committee will consider any previous cautions or convictions when processing your application. Refer to our policy on convictions for more information.

Private hire operators must have written policies and procedures in place to ensure criminality (DBS) checks are undertaken on all booking and dispatch staff at annually and to set out its approach on employing staff that are ex-offenders.

Where a booking is outsourced the operator must ensure the third-party have adequate arrangements in place as outlined above. Please visit https://www.gov.uk/request-copy-criminal-record to apply.

Proof of right to work - Immigration Act 2016

You’ll need to prove that you have the right to work in the UK. You’ll need to send us original documents for this check, please view full list of the valid ID types.

if you have a permanent right to work within the UK, you will need to send ID from List A
if you have a period of 'leave' you will need to send ID from List B, Group 1 or Group 2, depending on which group applies.

We only need to do this check once if you have a permanent right to work. If you have a period of ‘leave’ we’ll need to check each time your licence is renewed.

We keep copies of the documents on file for audit purposes and for potential information sharing with the Home Office.