Council to consult on Private hire car driver knowledge testing

26th February 2025

Members of The Highland Council's Licensing Committee have agreed that the Council will undertake a public consultation before deciding whether to introduce knowledge testing for private hire car (PHC) drivers in The Highland Council area.

Under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015, Highland Council has long imposed knowledge testing requirements on applicants for a taxi driver’s licence.

In 2016, the Highland Licensing Committee deferred a decision on introducing knowledge testing of applicants for a PHC driver’s licence.

Following concerns raised by stakeholders and the trade, the Highland Licensing Committee is now revisiting the 2016 decision to defer the introduction of knowledge testing for private hire car (PHC) drivers in The Highland Council area.

A public consultation will now take place to gather views on the following questions:

Should knowledge testing be required only in the case of applicants for a new PHC driver’s licence? In other words, should existing holders of a PHC driver’s licence be exempt from the requirement to pass a knowledge test when they come to renew their licence?

Should the knowledge test for PHC drivers be identical to the two part knowledge test used for taxi drivers and should the pass mark and allowance for number of attempts be the same?
From what date should the requirement for PHC driver knowledge testing come into effect?

The consultation will be promoted by the Council accordingly and a further report will be brought back to the Highland Licensing Committee for Members consideration.