Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, a) what assessment she has made of the impact of requirements relating to the Disclosure and Barring Service Update Service on taxi and private hire driver licence renewals; b) whether her Department plans to review the requirement for drivers to subscribe to the DBS Update Service within a fixed timeframe; c) what estimate she has made of the number of drivers required to submit a new enhanced DBS check due to lapses in Update Service subscriptions; d) whether she has had discussions with the Disclosure and Barring Service on simplifying renewal processes for licensed drivers.

The Department’s statutory guidance recommends that licensing authorities require driver licence applicants to provide an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and to subscribe to the DBS Update Service, to enable a status check to be carried out at least every six months. Where a driver is not subscribed to the Update Service, the guidance recommends that a new DBS certificate is provided. This helps ensure that licensing authorities have access to up‑to‑date information when considering whether a licence should be granted or retained.

The administration of taxi and private hire vehicle licensing is a matter for individual licensing authorities. The Department does not collect data on the impacts of local licensing processes, but expects authorities to administer them efficiently, with public safety as the overriding priority.

The operation of the DBS Update Service, including its subscription requirements, is a matter for the Home Office.