In its update, theTaxi and Private Hire Vehicles team at the Department for Transport wrote:

The Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022 received Royal Assent on 31 March 2022. The Act places new duties on taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) licensing authorities in England. 

From 31 May 2022, if any licensing authority in England has certain safeguarding or road safety concerns about a driver licensed by another authority, they must provide relevant information to the authority that issued the licence (see section 5). Any English licensing authority provided with such information must consider whether to suspend or revoke the driver’s licence as a result of that information (see section 6). It is expected that further guidance on these requirements will be provided before 31 May 2022. 

In due course, the Act will also require licensing authorities in England to input, into a central database, instances where the authority has refused, suspended, or revoked a taxi or PHV driver’s licence because of certain safeguarding or road safety concerns. Before a licensing authority in England decides whether to grant or renew a driver licence, it will be required to search the database for any entry relating to the applicant. If there is a relevant entry, the authority will be required to contact the recording authority to request the relevant information. The decision-making licensing authority will then be required to have regard to the information provided when making their decision. The Act gives the Secretary of State the power to provide or designate someone else to provide the database. Once a decision about providing or designating the database has been made, the requirements to use the database will be commenced. Licensing authorities will receive further communication in due course. 

Further information on the Act’s provisions can be found in its accompanying explanatory note