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Hackney carriage and private hire vehicle licences

You must have a licence to use a vehicle as a hackney carriage taxi or for private hire. We provide a licence when we're satisfied a vehicle is safe and suitable for this purpose, as set out in national legislation.

You can apply to licence a vehicle below. If you have an existing licence and need to do any of the following, visit our webpage to update your taxi licence details instead:

  • provide a new MOT test certificate
  • update your motor insurance details
  • transfer a vehicle licence from a previous owner to yourself

Charges

A vehicle licence costs £198 and is valid for 12 months.

If you change your vehicle in this period we can't give you a refund on the licence fee.

How to apply

You can apply for a vehicle licence by filling in the online form below. Only the owner of the vehicle can apply.

In the application you'll need to upload the following:

  • Proof of vehicle ownership (if you're licensing a new vehicle). This can be either:
    • V5C registration certificate (log book)
    • hire purchase agreement
    • receipt from the car dealership
    • receipt from the previous owner, including their name, address and contact details
    • old-style green 'new keeper' slip (only if this includes your name and address)
  • A valid certificate of insurance.
  • The vehicle MOT test certificate from one of our approved garages (see below). This will only be accepted within four weeks of the date of the certificate.
  • A basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check certificate, which must be dated within the last 12 months. (If you're already a licensed taxi driver with us you don't need to include this, as your driver DBS check covers this.)

New licences

We issue new vehicle licences for private hire only. This is due to a limit on the number of hackney carriages permitted in the borough. We don't currently have any licences available for new hackney carriages.

We issue new vehicles with both a:

  • 12 month licence
  • six month vehicle plate

Vehicles issued with six-month plates

Before the six-month plate expires the vehicle needs to pass a MOT test at one of our approved testers. You'll then need to update your taxi licence details to send us a copy of the test certificate within seven days of the plate expiry date. When we receive this we'll issue the vehicle with another six-month plate that expires on the same date as the licence. This plate is free of charge.

When renewing the vehicle licence in future we'll issue both the licence and plate for 12 months.

Renewing a licence

To renew a licence you need to submit a valid application at least 21 days before the expiry date of the current licence. This is so you receive the new licence and plates before the current ones expire. We'll preserve the annual renewal date on the new licence and plates.

After receiving your new vehicle licence and plates you need to destroy the old ones.

Replacing a currently licensed vehicle

If you have a vehicle that's currently licensed and are replacing it, you can apply for a new licence by surrendering your existing licence.

You won't receive a refund on the licence fee for the currently licensed vehicle. Any time left on the existing licence won't be transferred to the replacement vehicle.

We'll issue the replacement vehicle with a 12-month licence and plate if either:

  • it's newer than the currently licensed vehicle
  • it's an electric/hybrid vehicle

The vehicle you're replacing must already have a 12-month plate.

We'll issue all other replacement vehicles with a 12-month licence and six-month plate.

You'll need to destroy the licence and plates for your existing vehicle as soon as you've surrendered it's licence.

Vehicles issued with six-month plates

Before the six-month plate expires the vehicle needs to pass a MOT test at one of our approved testers. You'll then need to update your taxi licence details to send us a copy of the test certificate within seven days of the plate expiry date. When we receive this we'll issue the vehicle with another six-month plate that expires on the same date as the licence. This plate is free of charge.

When renewing the vehicle licence in future we'll issue both the licence and plate for 12 months.

CCTV for hackney carriages

All hackney carriages licensed by us must be fitted with CCTV by our approved supplier - AC Security Solutions. A vehicle can't be used as a hackney carriage until CCTV has been fitted.

You need to contact AC Security Solutions directly to arrange for CCTV to be installed:

You're responsible for all costs incurred for the CCTV installation.

If you're replacing your vehicle, the camera equipment will usually be removed from your current vehicle and placed into your replacement vehicle.

Accident replacement/courtesy vehicles

To license an accident replacement/courtesy vehicle, the vehicle owner must apply using the same process as all other applicants and provide the following:

  • Evidence of vehicle ownership - such as the V5C registration certificate (log book), hire purchase agreement, etc.
  • Valid certificate of insurance for private hire and reward that will cover the prospective driver.
  • MOT test certificate from one of our approved garages (see below).
  • Basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check certificate:
    • If the vehicle is owned by an individual registered on the DBS Update Service, you need to provide your enhanced DBS check certificate along with a cover letter confirming you're happy for us to conduct a DBS Update Service check.
    • If the vehicle is owned by a company, you need to provide a basic DBS check certificate, or an enhanced DBS check certificate and cover letter, for each director as listed on Companies House.

Accident replacement/courtesy hackney carriages

Hackney carriage vehicles must be white with a black bonnet and boot, unless it's a purpose-built taxi which must all be black.

Due to a limit on the number of hackney carriages permitted in the borough, if you're applying to licence one of these as an accident replacement/courtesy vehicle, you must do the following:

  1. Select the option in the online application form to 'replace a currently-licensed vehicle with a new vehicle'.

  2. Provide confirmation in writing from the current hackney carriage licence holder that they're temporarily surrendering the vehicle licence in order to allow us to license a new vehicle in the name of the accident/courtesy vehicle company. You should email this confirmation to: licensing@barnsley.gov.uk.

  3. Arrange for CCTV to be fitted in the replacement/courtesy vehicle by our approved supplier (see above). The accident/courtesy vehicle company is responsible for any costs incurred for this. The vehicle cannot be used as a hackney carriage until the CCTV system has been fitted.

Issuing the accident replacement/courtesy vehicle licence

When we've licensed the replacement/courtesy vehicle, we'll issue a PDF copy of the licence to the applicant. Vehicle plates can be posted directly to the address of the driver, or any other relevant address.

The replacement vehicle can only be driven by someone who holds a valid taxi driver licence with our authority.

Once the vehicle licence is no longer required, the plates and licence must be returned to us at: Licensing, Regulatory Services, PO Box 634, Barnsley, S70 9GG.

All vehicles must meet the appropriate licence conditions for either hackney carriages or private hire vehicles. These are stated in our taxi and private hire licensing policy. In your application you'll need to confirm you've read these and the vehicle you're applying to license meets all of the conditions.

You must also comply with the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Disabled Persons) Act 2022.

What happens next

If your application is successful we'll email the licence and post the vehicle plates to you. You'll usually receive these within 15 working days. We'll email you if we need any more information to process your application.

If your application's not successful we'll email you to let you know the reason for our decision.

More information

List of our approved garages

Approved garages that carry out MOT testing are below.

Garage Address Phone number
ATS Euromaster Barnsley Centre Huddersfield Road, Barnsley, S75 1AH 01226 281888
Barnsley Commercial Sales Ltd 137 Wakefield Road, Barnsley, S71 1ND 01226 391400
Carlton MOT Centre/Steve's Autos Unit 5, Wharncliffe Industrial Estate, Carlton Road, Barnsley, S71 3HX 01226 724700
Cecil Penney Ltd Sheffield Road Garage, Penistone, Sheffield, S36 6HF 01226 763102

01226 370346
Central Garage Brocklehurst Avenue, Kendray, Barnsley, S70 3AL 01226 281161
DM Auto Unit C1 Grove Park, Springvale Road, Grimethorpe, Barnsley, S72 7BF 01226 710245
Dootson Motors Ltd Barnsley Road, Cudworth, Barnsley, S72 8UU 01226 711152
Hunningley MOT Centre Hunningley Lane, Barnsley, S70 3DT 01226 296633
G-Tech MOT Centre Langdale Road, Barnsley, S71 1AQ 01226 733427
Perrys Group Ltd Claycliffe Road, Barugh Green, S75 1LR 01226 776100
Ron Daley Motorcycles Ltd Doncaster Road, Barnsley, S70 1TL 01226 203377
Roys Autos 55a Blacker Road, Mapplewell, Barnsley, S75 6GS 01226 387141
Trend Motor Services Ltd Rimmington Road, Wombwell, Barnsley, S73 8DQ 01226 340216
Wyatt Auto Repairs Unit 18/19 Mitchells Industrial Estate, Wombwell, Barnsley, S73 8HR 01226 752830

Daily safety checks for licensed vehicles

As part of the vehicle licence conditions the driver of a licensed vehicle must make sure it has a daily safety check.

As a minimum this must be a visual check of all lights, oil, water, tyres, mirrors and seat belts. The driver must make a written record of each safety check and give details of any faults and remedial action they've taken. They must sign the record and it must be kept in the vehicle for a minimum of 30 days. After this time the vehicle licence holder must keep the record for six months.

The driver of the vehicle must be able to show the recorded daily checks kept in the vehicle to us if we ask to see them. The licence holder must be able to show us all of the recorded checks they have for the vehicle for the past six months.

You can download and print your own copies of our daily check sheet. You can also buy these from us in a booklet on our order taxi licensing items webpage.