Conditions of entry

As from 1 April 2002, the previously maintained separate hackney carriage vehicle licence waiting lists for category B (Brighton) and for category H (Hove) hackney carriage vehicle licences will be combined into one list, based on the annual credits earned by each person on those lists, and that combined list will be maintained henceforth;

  1. To be eligible to apply for inclusion on the hackney carriage vehicle licence waiting list an applicant will have to fulfil the following requirements:
    1. hold a current Brighton & Hove hackney carriage or private hire driver licence
    2. not be the proprietor or part proprietor of a licensed hackney carriage vehicle in Brighton & Hove or have been a proprietor or part proprietor of a licensed hackney carriage vehicle in Brighton & Hove
  2. Applicants whose licences are temporarily suspended due to illness or have renewal applications pending due to illness may apply
  3. The waiting list will be maintained on an annual basis and the effective year of a list shall be from 1 May to 30 April following. Applications to be included on that year’s list must be made 1 March to 31 March proceeding, online through the council’s website
  4. A fresh application will be required each year. The council will accept applications received after this date only in the most exceptional extenuating circumstances
  5. On receipt of a valid application the applicant’s name will be entered onto the waiting list
  6. A draft list of all applicants will be published in April annually and objections to the accuracy of the information contained in the list must be made in writing to the Head of Regulatory Services and give all available details
  7. It will be the responsibility of each applicant to check that their name is included on the list and where a claim for full time working has been made that this is also noted
  8. No credit will be given in the year claimed unless the relevant licence to drive has been held for the full period claimed
  9. When a hackney carriage vehicle licence is made available it will be allocated to a person named on the effective waiting list and will normally be offered to applicants on the waiting list in order of priority, such priority to be determined by reference to the number of years on which the applicants name has been on the list. This will be subject to compliance with the following conditions:
    1. the applicant must hold a current Brighton & Hove hackney carriage or private hire driver licence
    2. a hackney carriage vehicle licence will not be issued to a person who currently is the proprietor or part proprietor of a licensed hackney carriage in Brighton & Hove
    3. the taxi licensing office must be satisfied that the applicant is financially able to provide and operate a hackney carriage vehicle
    4. the applicant must be a fit and proper person to operate a hackney carriage vehicle. Past record and previous convictions will be taken into account
    5. where 2 or more applicants have the same number of credit points (years), a ballot (as decided by the council) will be held in order to rank them in order of priority
  10. When making application all applicants will be required to disclose previous convictions