Right to work checks for private hire operators

Direct answer: The council's check and your check are two different legal duties. When a driver applies for or renews a badge, the council runs a "right to a licence" check. Since 1 October 2026, the expanded Right to Work Scheme can also make your operator business responsible for checking the drivers you engage. The Home Office says a check done for a licence or other regulatory approval does not give you a statutory excuse. So for every driver you take on under a new arrangement from 1 October 2026, run your own prescribed check before the first job, keep the evidence, and diary a follow-up check if their permission is time-limited. Use the final Home Office employer's guide dated 1 October 2026, not the September draft.

At a glance

Why this matters now

Two Home Office documents changed at the start of October, and many operator SOPs still quote the old ones.

1. The employer's guide is now final. GOV.UK lists the *Employer's guide to right to work checks: 1 October 2026* (83 pages). It updates the 16 July version and came into force on 1 October 2026. A new code of practice, the seventh version, also came into force on 1 October 2026. If your office manual still says "11 September draft", update it.
2. Councils have a new licensing guide too. The Home Office replaced its August 2025 licensing-authority guidance with a 1 October 2026 version (GOV.UK page updated 2 October 2026). It covers share codes, SVEC verification, 3C leave, impersonation and how long a licence can run. TaxiPoint and the Institute of Licensing both covered it on 11 October.
3. The guide itself says the duties are separate. The licensing guidance states that the Right to Work Scheme changes "create a separate legal duty" for some taxi and private hire businesses, "distinct from" the council's right to a licence check.
4. Councils are writing it into operator expectations. Reading Borough Council's private hire page now says operators must check their drivers' right to work from 1 October 2026, and that it expects records "to be kept at your operator base and be available for inspection".
5. The trade still feels blindsided. On 24 September LPHCA chair Steph Farrer said the Home Office had "failed spectacularly to communicate" the new rules and that she would seek a pause. That was a request. No pause has been granted.

The problem in your office

Most offices still run one compliance folder per driver. The badge goes in, and someone ticks "right to work: council checked".

That tick now hides three gaps:

• Wrong legal duty. The council asked "can this person hold a licence?" You need to answer "can my business engage this person to do this work?"
• Wrong end date. The badge expiry may be shorter than usual because the council capped it at the driver's permission end, or at six months after an SVEC check. If you do not know why the date is short, you cannot plan for it.
• No early warning. Permission can end early, for example if it is curtailed or cancelled. The licence then lapses. The council is not required to run ongoing checks to spot this.

Illustrative example: QuickRide Taxis takes on David Khan in mid-October. His badge runs to April, not the usual three years. The office files the badge and sends his first job. Nobody asks why the licence is short. In fact the council issued it for six months after an SVEC check because David has an in-time application pending. QuickRide has no check of its own, no record of the date, and nothing in the diary for April.

!Two-lane chart: council right to a licence check and operator right to work check, with licence end and permission end dates feeding one dispatch gate

*Figure: Two checks, two legal duties, one dispatch gate. The council's licence end date and your own follow-up check date both belong in the driver record.*

Right to a licence vs right to work: side by side

Sources: Guidance for licensing authorities, 1 October 2026 (accessible); Employer's guide to right to work checks: 1 October 2026 (PDF).

The rules and primary sources

Always check the live GOV.UK documents on the day you change a process. This article is practical guidance, not legal advice.

1. Who is in scope from 1 October 2026

The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 widened who counts as an "employer" under the Scheme. It now covers people engaged under a worker's contract, as an individual sub-contractor, or through an online matching service that gives a service provider's details to customers. Extended liability can also apply through some contractual chains.

The final guide says the Scheme applies "according to the objective features of the working arrangement, rather than the label given to it". Calling drivers "self-employed" does not decide it. The guide lists factors such as who engages and replaces the people doing the work, whether substitution is controlled, and whether the arrangement is really buying a service from an independent business.

Example 5 in the guide is a self-employed plumber who advertises to the public and gets work from many customers. No check is needed there. A driver who gets jobs through your booking line, under your operator name, is a different arrangement. Map each of your driver models against the official examples. Take advice if your model is unusual.

Source: Employer's guide, 1 October 2026, sections "Assessing working arrangements" and "When this guidance does not apply".

2. What about drivers you already had before 1 October?

The final guide answers this in its questions section:

• For worker's contracts, individual sub-contractors and online matching services, a civil penalty "may only be imposed where the employment commenced on or after 1 October 2026".
• The measures "are not intended to be retrospective". A pre-1 October arrangement is not brought into scope "solely because work or services continue afterwards".
• A renewal, extension or variation is different. The guide says you should not assume it either brings an arrangement into scope or leaves it unchanged. It depends on whether it legally creates a new arrangement on or after 1 October 2026.
• Where a driver keeps working for you, you do not need a fresh check before every job, provided you hold a valid statutory excuse and do any required follow-up check.

So the practical risk points are new drivers, returning drivers, drivers moving from another operator, and anyone you re-sign on new terms. You may still choose to check existing drivers as good practice. If you do, apply it to everyone in the same way.

3. How the council now sets licence length

From the 1 October 2026 licensing guidance:

• If a check shows time-limited permission, the licence must not run beyond that permission or the statutory maximum, whichever is earlier.
• If the council issues a licence after positive SVEC verification for an outstanding application, appeal or administrative review, it is limited to six months from the date in the SVEC response.
• If an online or SVEC check confirms a right that continues because of an in-time application (3C leave), any licence issued on that basis is also limited to six months.
• Where the council holds evidence of a continuous right to work, if it securely kept evidence of the earlier check, it does not have to repeat the immigration check at renewal unless it has information that status may have changed.

Councils in practice are already doing this. Reading Borough Council tells drivers it can only issue a licence "up to the expiry of your Right to Work (RTW) permit", and that a renewed licence runs to the new permit expiry or the rest of the three years, whichever is earlier.

4. When a licence lapses on immigration grounds

The licensing guidance says a licence "will lapse" if the holder becomes disqualified by immigration status, for example if permission expires or is curtailed, revoked or cancelled. The driver must return the licence and badge within seven working days, without reasonable excuse. Failing to return it can be a criminal offence.

Councils "are not required to carry out ongoing immigration checks" just to find out whether permission has ended. They act when they get information. That is why your own follow-up check date matters more than the date printed on the badge.

5. Visa conditions the council must check

The licensing guide warns that taxi or private hire work "will not normally meet the conditions" of skilled worker supplementary employment. Students cannot be self-employed, apart from a narrow Innovator Founder exception. An asylum seeker's ARC limited to shortage or Immigration Salary List jobs is not a basis for a licence. If a council has issued a licence, it should have checked this. Your own check must still confirm the person may do the work you offer them.

6. How you establish a statutory excuse

Before the engagement starts, complete one prescribed check:

1. Manual document check with original List A or List B documents, checked with the person present (in person or on a live video call with the originals in your possession).
2. Home Office online check with a share code and date of birth on the employer service. Work share codes begin with W. Codes beginning R or S are for other services.
3. Registered RtW DVSP, for example for British and Irish passports. If you use a provider for digital checks, it must be registered.

Keep a clear copy or the online profile page. Record the date of the check. Keep it for the engagement plus two years, then destroy it securely. BRPs are no longer issued, and a manual check of an expired BRP is not acceptable. Use the online check instead.

You can ask staff to carry out checks. The guide is clear that the business remains liable if a check was not done as prescribed.

Sources: Checking a job applicant's right to work; View a job applicant's right to work details; Employer's guide, 1 October 2026.

7. Penalties and licensing consequences

The final guide lists a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker. The code of practice in force from 1 October 2026 sets a starting point of £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 for a repeat breach, with set reductions. Serious cases can lead to prosecution. The guide also lists "review and possible revocation of a licence in ... the private hire vehicle and taxi sector". For an operator, that means your operator licence.

Source: Code of practice on preventing illegal working: Right to Work Scheme for employers (PDF).

Original tool: the licence end-date diary

Use this to set the right dates in each driver record. "Licence end" is what the council can issue. "Your recheck" is what your office must diary.

The rule of thumb: the earliest date wins. Licence expiry, permission end date and PVN end date all go in the record, and dispatch stops at whichever comes first.

Step by step: set up your office before the next new driver

Step 1: Split the driver record into two packs

• Licensing pack: badge, licence number and expiry, council conditions, DBS, medical, tax check code.
• Right to work pack: your check method, the profile page or document copies, the dated statement "The date on which this right to work check was made: [date]", any PVN, follow-up date.

Never file the badge as your right to work evidence.

Step 2: Ask why a licence is short

If a new driver's licence runs for six months or ends on an odd date, ask the driver politely what permission it is tied to. Then run your own check. Ask everyone the same questions so you do not single anyone out.

Step 3: Run your prescribed check before the first job

Illustrative example: Hollowmere Cars onboards David Khan.

1. Let David choose an eligible method. Do not insist on one route.
2. For an eVisa, ask for a work share code starting with W and his date of birth.
3. Run the check on the employer service. Looking at David's own phone screen is not enough.
4. Match the photo to David, in person or on a live video call.
5. Confirm he may do this work and note any restrictions.
6. Save the profile page and write the dated check statement.
7. Enter the permission end date, if any, in the driver record.
8. Only then mark him "Right to work: clear".

Step 4: Check who is a "new arrangement"

Before re-signing driver agreements or moving drivers onto new terms, take advice on whether the change creates a new contractual arrangement from 1 October 2026. As a precaution, treat drivers returning after a break, or joining from another operator, as new unless the guide clearly provides otherwise, since the guide makes it depend on the contract.

Step 5: Gate dispatch on the earliest date

Set your system so a driver cannot receive jobs when any of these is missing or past: licence expiry, right to work check record, follow-up check date. Controllers should see a clear status, not a note saying "he's fine".

Step 6: Keep records where your council expects them

Some councils, Reading for example, expect operator right to work records at the operator base for inspection. Check your own council's operator conditions and update them in your SOP.

Step 7: Sample-audit monthly

Pick five driver files. Is the check date there? Is the profile page readable? Is any follow-up date overdue? Is the licence end earlier than the permission end?

Checklist: tick before the first job

Licensing pack

• ✓ Valid driver licence and badge on file
• ✓ Licence expiry entered, with the reason if it is short
• ✓ Council conditions for operators noted (including where records must be kept)

Your right to work pack

• ✓ Engagement mapped against the official examples (new arrangement from 1 October 2026?)
• ✓ Prescribed method chosen with the driver
• ✓ Check done on the employer service, with originals, or through a registered DVSP
• ✓ Share code started with W (not R or S)
• ✓ Photo matched to the person who will drive
• ✓ Work conditions allow taxi or private hire work
• ✓ Profile page or copies saved, with the dated check statement
• ✓ Permission end date or PVN end date entered
• ✓ Follow-up reminders set (as a suggested practice, at 28 and 7 days)

Office

• ✓ Dispatch blocked at the earliest of licence end, permission end or PVN end
• ✓ Same process for every driver
• ✓ Named staff own the checks
• ✓ Retention set to engagement plus two years
• ✓ SOP cites the final 1 October 2026 employer's guide and code of practice

Common mistakes

1. "The council checked, so we're covered." The employer's guide says licensing checks do not establish a statutory excuse.
2. Quoting the September draft. The final 1 October 2026 guide and the seventh code of practice are now in force.
3. Trusting the badge expiry as the only date. Permission can end early and the licence lapses. Councils do not have to run ongoing checks.
4. Missing why a licence is only six months. A six-month licence often means SVEC verification or 3C leave. Your follow-up must land before that date.
5. Using SVEC or council letters as your evidence. Councils use SVEC. Employers use ECS. They are different services.
6. Assuming every existing driver is now in scope, or none is. Pre-1 October arrangements are not caught just because work continues. New or re-entered arrangements may be.
7. Accepting R or S share codes. Only W codes are for right to work.
8. Manual checks of an old BRP. A manual check of an expired BRP is not acceptable. Use the online check.
9. Checking only some drivers. Inconsistent checks risk discrimination claims and leave gaps.
10. Waiting for a pause. LPHCA asked for one. None has been granted.

Related operator tasks

• Hard stops for expired documents: Expired documents and compliance risk
• DBS rechecks on the same driver record: DBS checks for taxi and private hire drivers
• Tax check codes at licence renewal: Tax check codes for taxi and private hire
• Onboarding new drivers: Taxi driver recruitment for private hire operators
• Drivers licensed in another area: Cross-border hiring rules

FAQs

Is the council's right to a licence check the same as a right to work check?

No. The council checks whether someone can hold a licence. Your check gives your business a statutory excuse under the Right to Work Scheme. The Home Office describes them as separate duties.

Do private hire operators have to do right to work checks on self-employed drivers?

Often, yes. It depends on how the arrangement works, not the label. The Scheme now covers individual sub-contractors and worker's contracts, and it looks at how the arrangement works, not the label. A driver who gets work through your operator name is not the same as a self-employed plumber finding their own customers.

Do we need to check drivers who joined before 1 October 2026?

The guide says the changes are not retrospective. A pre-1 October arrangement is not in scope just because work continues. New arrangements, and some variations or renewals, may be. Many operators still check existing drivers as good practice. Do it for everyone if you do.

Why does a driver's new licence only last six months?

A council must cap a licence at six months after positive SVEC verification, or where the right to work rests on an in-time application. Run your own check and diary that end date.

Will the council tell us if a driver's permission ends?

Not necessarily. Councils are not required to run ongoing checks to see whether permission has ended. Your follow-up check is your early warning.

Which share codes can we accept?

Codes that begin with W, generated for proving right to work. Codes beginning R or S are for other services.

How long do we keep the records?

For the length of the engagement and two years afterwards. Then destroy them securely. Some councils also expect records at your operator base for inspection.

Can a compliance company take on the liability?

No. Staff or a registered DVSP can carry out parts of the check. The guide says the employer stays liable if the check was not done as prescribed.

What happens if we get it wrong?

You could face a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker, and your operator licence could be reviewed. Correct prescribed checks give you a statutory excuse.

What to do next

1. Replace any "11 September draft" reference in your SOP with the final 1 October 2026 guide and code.
2. Add a "permission end date" and "follow-up check date" field to every driver record.
3. Look for licences with short or six-month terms and diary their end dates.
4. List every driver taken on or re-signed since 1 October 2026 and confirm each has your own check on file.
5. Check your council's operator conditions for where records must be kept.
6. Set dispatch to stop at the earliest date in the record.

Want a second pair of eyes?

Book a free 15-minute compliance review with CabiSync. We look at how your right to work records, licence dates and document expiries sit next to dispatch. Your radio room stays yours.

CabiSync is dispatch and compliance software for UK private hire operators. We are not a licensing authority, an immigration adviser, or a registered DVSP or right to work checking service. Always confirm the live GOV.UK guidance before you change contracts or refuse work.

Sources

1. GOV.UK: Licensing authority guide to right to work checks (page updated 2 October 2026)
2. GOV.UK: Guidance for licensing authorities to prevent illegal working in the taxi and private hire sector in the UK: 1 October 2026 (accessible)
3. GOV.UK: Right to work checks: an employer's guide (collection) (updated 1 October 2026)
4. Home Office: Employer's guide to right to work checks: 1 October 2026 (PDF)
5. Home Office: Code of practice on preventing illegal working: Right to Work Scheme for employers (PDF) (in force 1 October 2026)
6. GOV.UK: Checking a job applicant's right to work
7. GOV.UK: View a job applicant's right to work details
8. Reading Borough Council: Private hire licensing
9. TaxiPoint: New right-to-work Home Office guidance tells councils when taxi and PHV licences must be refused
10. Institute of Licensing: Home Office updates taxi licensing guidance on right to work checks
11. LPHCA: HO Failure on Right to Work Checks (24 September 2026)

*Practical operator guidance based on public Home Office and GOV.UK material and trade reporting. Not legal advice.*

Last reviewed: 13 October 2026 Byline: CabiSync Editorial Team Originally published: 7 September 2026

Practical operator guidance based on public Home Office and GOV.UK material and trade reporting. Not legal advice.

Last reviewed: 13 October 2026
Byline: CabiSync Editorial Team
Originally published: 7 September 2026