We are responsible for adding basic details about drivers when we refuse an application or revoke a licence.
When we receive an application for a licence, we check the applicant’s details on the register to confirm that there is no record that they have been revoked or refused elsewhere.
The details contained on the register are limited to information that will help to identify an individual to a certain degree of accuracy. They will not give a reason why actions were taken – we have to follow up on any searches that come back with a match.
There have been numerous high profile cases where drivers who have been refused licences or had a licence revoked in one area have gone to another area and received a licence in that area by failing to disclose their previous history.
This undermines public safety, if there are legitimate reasons why a licence was refused or revoked, and damages confidence in the hackney carriage and private hire licensing regime and trade.
This is why the initiative has been widely supported by reputable drivers and firms, as it will provide a mechanism for ensuring information about refusals and revocations can be shared between all licensing authorities in a safe and secure way, removing this potential loophole.
Data will be retained on the register to help licensing authorities fulfil their statutory duty to be satisfied that a person is a fit and proper person to hold a hackney carriage or private hire licence.
In accordance with this purpose, data will remain on NR3 for 25 years.
Suspensions of licences will not be recorded on NR3.
When an authority revokes a licence, or refuses an application for one, it will record this information on NR3. The information recorded will be limited to:
- name
- date of birth
- address and contact details
- national insurance number
- driving licence number
- decision taken
- date of decision
- date decision effective
Licensing authorities will then search the register when they are processing new applications or renewals. Where an authority finds a match for their applicant on NR3, it will contact the licensing authority that recorded the entry to seek more information, which, if shared, will then be used to help reach a decision on the application.
Individuals whose details are added to NR3 will be notified of this at the point at which they are advised of the decision to refuse or revoke a licence.
Outside of these times, an individual can make a subject access request (SAR) for any of their personal data held on NR3.
The ‘data controller’ in respect of this data is this licensing authority, to whom a SAR should be submitted in the first instance.
As the ‘data processor’, that is the organisation storing the data, the National Anti-Fraud Network will fulfil this request. Similarly, the exercise of any other rights provided under data protection legislation should be made to this authority in the first instance.
Licensing authorities are legally required to consider each licence application on its own merits, and cannot refuse an application simply because an applicant may be recorded on NR3.
The purpose of NR3 is to ensure that authorities have the full information necessary to help them reach a decision on whether an individual is fit and proper.
If circumstances have materially changed since the decision that has been recorded on NR3, it may be appropriate for another authority to award a licence.