Vehicle licensing
Current statutory ruleStatutory vehicle licence requirement
This establishes the regulated vehicle object and does not prove a current plate, waiting-list position, approval or commercial dispatch relationship.
- Taxi: A licence under section 10 is required to use a motor vehicle as a taxi.
- Private Hire Car: A licence under section 10 is required to use a motor vehicle as a private hire car.
- Separate Objects: The statutory vehicle licence is separate from the driver licence and from any booking-office licence.
Current official sourceLocal operator licence terminology and driver licence prerequisite
The linked form also permits company and partnership applicants, so the prerequisite’s legal-person scope is retained as a conflict rather than inferred.
- Local Label: taxi or private hire car operator licence
- Licensed Activity: operate the specified vehicle within the licensed area
- Stated Prerequisite: the current page says an applicant must have held a driver licence for at least one year
Current official sourceCurrent taxi licence quantity restriction policy
No exact current ceiling, vacancy, waiting-list position or assurance of grant is inferred from the policy statement.
- Restriction State: the council states that the number of taxi operator licences is restricted
- New Grant Route: an applicant may be invited to the Local Government Licensing Panel to put a case for unmet demand in an East Ayrshire locality
Current official sourceCurrent private hire quantity policy and booking mode
No restriction is a policy statement and does not prove a particular application will be valid, granted or immediately available.
- Quantity Policy: the council states there is currently no restriction on private hire car operator licences
- Hiring Mode: advance bookings only
- Street Uplift: prohibited
Current statutory ruleStatutory processing duration renewal and appeal framework
These are statutory outer rules and effects, not an East Ayrshire operational target or proof that a submitted application is complete.
- Relevant Date: the application date
- Application Consideration: within three months after the relevant date
- Final Decision: within six months after the end of the initial three-month period
- Extension: the sheriff may extend either period on the licensing authority's summary application
- Missed Deadline Effect: the application is deemed granted or renewed
- Deemed Temporary Duration: the period sought, capped at six weeks
- Deemed Other Duration: one year
- Ordinary Duration: three years or a shorter period determined by the licensing authority
- Temporary Maximum: six weeks
- Timely Renewal Continuation: a timely renewal keeps the existing licence in effect until grant or renewal, expiry of the appeal period after refusal, or abandonment or determination of a lodged appeal
- Late Renewal: an application up to 28 days late may be treated as timely only where the authority considers that good cause is shown
- Appeal Eligibility: a person who may require reasons under the Schedule and who followed all available procedures for stating their case
- Appeal Method And Deadline: summary application lodged with the sheriff clerk within 28 days of the decision
- Late Appeal: the sheriff may hear a late appeal where good cause is shown
- Appeal Grounds: error of law; decision based on an incorrect material fact; action contrary to natural justice; unreasonable exercise of discretion
Current official sourceCurrent operator application fees and ordinary duration
The amounts are council application fees and do not include any inferred vehicle, insurance, radio, dispatch or operating cost.
- Schedule From: 2025-08-01
- Currency: GBP
- Taxi Operator: 523
- Private Hire Car Operator: 523
- Ordinary Duration: three years unless otherwise stated
Current official sourceCurrent certificate of compliance and replacement item fees
These are authority fees only; the fee page does not state a separate inspection appointment lead time or commercial cost.
- Schedule From: 2025-08-01
- Currency: GBP
- Vehicle Test: 134
- Vehicle Retest: 68
- Meter Test: 43
- Front Plate: 11
- Rear Plate: 13
- Private Hire Door Sticker: 7
- Internal Door Card: 1
- Internal Door Card Plastic Pouch: 2
- Taxi Full Set: £30, or £32 with no-smoking stickers
- Private Hire Full Set: £44, or £46 with no-smoking stickers
Current official sourceCurrent grant and renewal application routes
Only public descriptions and bounded portal reachability were checked; no form, account or payment path was exercised.
- Online: GLAMIS supports application, renewal and payment
- Renewal Access: current licence holders are told to contact the council for unique login details
- Offline: a printable operator application PDF is linked from the operator page
Current official sourceCurrent printable operator form fields
The fields do not establish acceptance, approval, current vehicle availability or which immigration-check method the council will use.
- Applicant Types: natural person; company; partnership
- Management: manager where the applicant will not operate the vehicle; directors, company secretary, partners or others responsible for management; employee or agent responsible for day-to-day management
- Vehicle: registration and first-registration date; make and model; engine size; colour; doors; passenger count; meter; wheelchair accessibility
- Operation: where the vehicle is kept; days and hours available for hire; North or South operating area
- Background: convictions and fixed penalties; prior vehicle-operator licences and refusals
- Immigration Prompt: the form asks nationality and right to work and warns that Home Office documents or a passport may be requested
Current official sourceProcessed application fee refund statement
This is the wording on the council form and does not resolve any case-specific legal entitlement.
The current-linked printable form states that the application fee is non-refundable once the application is processed.
Current statutory ruleStatutory inspection testing and suspension powers
This is the national statutory framework and does not prove a local inspection result, booking slot or enforcement decision.
- Holder Duty: present the licensed vehicle for inspection and testing within the period and at the place reasonably required by authority notice
- Inspection Power: an authorised officer, authorised civilian employee or constable may inspect and test vehicle fitness and taximeter fitness or accuracy at a reasonable time
- Failure Response: written requirement for further inspection; licence suspension until the examiner is satisfied
- Twenty Eight Day Effect: if the examiner is not satisfied within 28 days of suspension, the licence is deemed suspended by the authority under Schedule 1 paragraph 11
Dated official source still linkedDated taxi vehicle condition summary
The document remains linked by the 2026 page but carries a 2019 effective date; its full current adoption was not independently established.
- Effective Date: 2019-01-01
- Maintenance: keep the vehicle roadworthy, safe, serviceable and clean and supply maintenance premises and inspection frequency on demand
- Inspection: non-purpose-built vehicles annually to age five and then every six months until age ten; purpose-built taxis annually to age eight and then every six months until deemed unfit
- Failed Test: plates and door cards removed and returned after a passed inspection
- Repeated Failure: two consecutive failures trigger a formal letter; three or more may go to the Licensing Panel for possible suspension or more frequent testing
- Accident: report as soon as practicable, present within two working days and present repaired vehicle for re-examination no later than 28 days after initial inspection
- Documents: registration document, insurance and current Certificate of Compliance must be produced on reasonable request
Dated official source still linkedDated private hire vehicle condition summary
The document remains linked by the 2026 page but carries a 2019 effective date; its full current adoption was not independently established.
- Effective Date: 2019-01-01
- Maintenance: keep the vehicle roadworthy, safe, serviceable and clean and supply the maintenance address and inspection frequency on demand
- Inspection: non-purpose-built vehicles annually to age five and then every six months until age ten; purpose-built vehicles annually to age eight and then every six months until deemed unfit
- Failed Test: plates and door cards removed and returned after a passed inspection
- Repeated Failure: two consecutive failures trigger a formal letter; three or more may go to the Licensing Panel for possible suspension or more frequent testing
- Accident: report as soon as practicable, present within two working days and present repaired vehicle for re-examination no later than 28 days after initial inspection
- Documents: registration document and insurance must be produced on reasonable request
Dated official source still linkedDated vehicle specification and inspection framework
These specifications remain linked by the 2026 page but are preserved as dated evidence, not promoted to an undated current standard.
- Effective Date: 2019-01-01
- Standards: M1 or M2 whole-vehicle type approval as described, with Individual Vehicle Approval for specified adapted M2 vehicles
- Non Purpose Built Age: under ten years from original registration
- Non Purpose Built Testing: annually to age five, then every six months until age ten
- Purpose Built Testing: annually to age eight, then every six months until no longer deemed fit
- Meter: taxi meters and any private-hire meter must be tested and approved; broken seals after repair require retest and resealing
- Type Evidence: purpose-built vehicle Certificate of Conformity and V5 body type Taxi; LOLER six-month certification for a passenger tail-lift; DVSA Individual Vehicle Approval where specified
Dated official source still linkedDated driver list and licence check controls
This is dated licence-condition evidence and does not prove employment, rental, dispatch affiliation or current driver availability.
- Driver List: keep an up-to-date list of names and addresses of employed drivers and produce it to the council or a constable
- Licence Checks: maintain a system for regularly checking DVLA and council driver licences
Booking-office licensing
Current statutory ruleStatutory premises and vehicle count threshold
The threshold concerns booking premises and does not itself license a vehicle, driver or commercial dispatch account.
- Licensable Premises: premises used for a business taking public bookings by any means of communication for four or more relevant taxis or private hire cars
- Equivalent Threshold: more than three relevant vehicles
- Vehicle Licence: each relevant vehicle has an in-force section 10 taxi or private hire car licence
Current official sourceCurrent local grant and renewal application routes
The local summary omits the statutory four-or-more-vehicles threshold; that overbreadth is retained as a conflict.
- Local Summary: the council page says a booking-office licence covers a business taking public bookings by any means of communication for relevant vehicles
- Online: GLAMIS supports application, renewal and payment
- Renewal Access: current licence holders are told to contact the council for unique login details
- Offline: a printable booking-office application PDF is linked
Current official sourceCurrent public and non public booking office fees and duration
These are council application fees, not commercial dispatch prices, subscriptions, commissions or equipment costs.
- Schedule From: 2025-08-01
- Currency: GBP
- Public Premises: 363
- Non Public Premises: 242
- Ordinary Duration: three years unless otherwise stated
- Site Notice Indicator: the fee page marks premises-related entries with a site-notice indicator
Current official sourceCurrent printable booking form fields and site notice
The field list does not prove a live fleet, plate status, acceptance, right-to-licence decision or grant.
- Applicant Types: natural person; company; partnership
- Management: applicant or employee or agent carrying out day-to-day management; directors, company secretary, partners or others responsible for management
- Premises: booking-office address; whether the general public has access
- Fleet Field: plate numbers of all vehicles under the applicant’s control
- Background: convictions and fixed penalties; prior booking-office licences and refusals
- Site Notice Display: 21 days from the application date where the applicant can display it
- Objection Period On Notice: generally 28 days from the application date
- Compliance Certificate: return within seven days after the 21-day display period
Current official sourceCurrent linked booking record and cctv conditions
The conditions are live-linked and were modified in 2026, but the PDF body supplies no approval or effective date; that provenance gap is retained.
- Booking Record: keep a record of every booking taken at the premises
- Retention: minimum one year
- Recorded Items: registration number of the vehicle hired; name of the driver at the time of hire
- Licensed Supply: take reasonable steps to ensure the booking results in an in-force section 10 vehicle driven by a person holding an in-force section 13 driver licence
- Public Premises Cctv: a booking office to which the public has access must install fully operational CCTV within six months of grant
Current statutory ruleStatutory processing duration renewal and appeal framework
These are statutory outer rules and effects, not an East Ayrshire operational target or proof that a booking-office application is complete.
- Relevant Date: the application date, or where Finance Act 2021 tax-check confirmation rules prevent consideration on that date, the date that prevention ends
- Application Consideration: within three months after the relevant date
- Final Decision: within six months after the end of the initial three-month period
- Extension: the sheriff may extend either period on the licensing authority's summary application
- Missed Deadline Effect: the application is deemed granted or renewed
- Deemed Temporary Duration: the period sought, capped at six weeks
- Deemed Other Duration: one year
- Ordinary Duration: three years or a shorter period determined by the licensing authority
- Temporary Maximum: six weeks
- Timely Renewal Continuation: a timely renewal keeps the existing licence in effect until grant or renewal, expiry of the appeal period after refusal, or abandonment or determination of a lodged appeal, subject where applicable to the Schedule 1 tax-check blocking branch
- Late Renewal: an application up to 28 days late may be treated as timely only where the authority considers that good cause is shown
- Appeal Eligibility: a person who may require reasons under the Schedule and who followed all available procedures for stating their case
- Appeal Method And Deadline: summary application lodged with the sheriff clerk within 28 days of the decision
- Late Appeal: the sheriff may hear a late appeal where good cause is shown
- Appeal Grounds: error of law; decision based on an incorrect material fact; action contrary to natural justice; unreasonable exercise of discretion
Current official sourceTax check conditionality and code
The current local page flags tax checks for booking-office renewals, but no current local code-submission workflow was verified.
- In Force From: 2023-10-02
- Scottish Scope: booking-office licences, not Scottish taxi or private-hire vehicle licences
- Tax Check Required: renewal; same licence type held and expired less than one year ago; same licence type already held with another licensing authority
- New Applicant Route: a genuinely new applicant, or one whose same-type licence expired at least one year ago, confirms tax responsibilities rather than completing a tax check
- Code: nine-character code
- Code Validity: 120 days
- Personal Completion: the applicant must complete their own tax check
- Ordinary Renewal Without Valid Code: an existing Scottish licence expires on the later of 28 days after the licensing authority asks for the code or the existing licence expiry date
- Temporary Licence Without Valid Code: a temporary Scottish licence expires on the later of seven days after the licensing authority asks for the code or the existing licence expiry date
Current statutory ruleRight to licence eligibility duration and cessation
The current consolidated Schedule supplies the limited-leave and cessation rules; the 2017 instrument records their application to booking-office licences.
- Grant Or Renewal Rule: the authority must be satisfied that an individual applicant is not disqualified by immigration status
- Ordinary Limited Leave: where section 3C does not apply, the licence period must end at or before the end of the person's limited leave
- Section3 CLeave: where limited leave has been extended by section 3C, the licence period must not exceed six months
- Renewal: the same duration rules apply to renewal
- Cessation: a booking-office licence ceases to have effect if its holder becomes disqualified by immigration status
Current official sourceRight to licence prescribed checks and supplemental verification
The current local form asks about right to work and possible documents but does not identify which current prescribed method East Ayrshire uses.
- Stage: new, renewal and extension applications by an individual
- Prescribed Methods: manual check of original acceptable documents; right-to-work check using a Digital Verification Service for a British or Irish citizen, with the digital route limited to a valid passport or Irish passport card; Home Office online right-to-work check for a non-British or non-Irish citizen
- Supplemental Status Verification Enquiries And Checking Service: SVEC can verify specified cases such as an outstanding application, administrative review or appeal, a non-digital Certificate of Application or status needing Home Office verification; it is not a fourth prescribed method
- Separate Legal Entity: a limited company or limited liability partnership is outside the individual check described by the guidance