Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's process is for sharing intelligence with licensing authorities when a foreign national taxi driver is arrested.

As set out in the Department for Transport’s Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards, all applicants for a taxi or PHV driver’s licence, irrespective of nationality, should undergo an enhanced DBS check including a check of the children’s and adults’ barred lists every six months. The enhanced check includes any police information which the chief officer believes to be relevant and ought to be disclosed.

In addition, the police may proactively share information using common law police disclosure (CLPD) powers. If there is pressing social need, CLPD allows forces to proactively provide personal data or sensitive personal data to a third party such as licensing authorities using common law powers. It is for chief officers to determine the implementation of CLPD provisions locally, in accordance with guidance published by the College of Policing and National Police Chiefs’ Council.