Schedules Schedule 5: Private hire vehicles etc. The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 (c. 57)
Paragraph 17 states that the following paragraphs make changes to the taxi and private hire vehicle licensing regime in England and Wales (except London and Plymouth) by amending the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 (‘the 1976 Act’).
	Paragraphs 18, 21 and 23amend the 1976 Act to provide that driver and operator licences shall not be issued to applicants who are disqualified by their immigration status (paragraph 18 deals with private hire vehicle drivers, paragraph 21 with operators and paragraph 23 with taxi drivers). The licensing authority must have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State in making a decision about someone’s immigration status.
	Paragraph 20 inserts a new section 53A into the 1976 Act which ensures that where someone’s immigration leave is time-limited to less than the statutory length for a driver's licence, the licence will be issued for a duration which does not exceed the applicant’s period of leave. Where an applicant’s leave has been extended by virtue of section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 any licence granted will be limited to a period not exceeding six months.
	Where a licence holder’s leave comes to an end (for example, through curtailment) their licence automatically lapses. When this happens the holder must return their licence, any copy, and their driver’s badge to the licensing authority. A person who fails to do so within seven days, without reasonable cause, will be committing an offence and on summary conviction, is liable to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale, and in the case of a continuing offence, a daily fine for each day they fail to return the documents after conviction.
	Paragraph 22 inserts a new section 55ZA which makes similar amendments as new section 53A in respect of operator licences.
	Paragraphs 24 and 25 make amendments to the 1976 Act to specify that grounds for suspension and revocation of driver and operator licences include where the holder has been convicted of an immigration offence or required to pay an immigration penalty.
	Paragraph 26 inserts a new section 62A which clarifies that the holder of a licence which has been suspended or revoked on immigration grounds must return that licence within a specified period. Failure to do so, without reasonable cause, is an offence. The Secretary of State may amend the fine amount in the case of a continuing offence, by means of regulations.
	Paragraph 27 clarifies that on any appeal against the refusal or revocation of a licence under part II of the 1976 Act, the court is not entitled to consider whether the appellant should be granted leave, or has been granted leave subsequent to the decision being appealed.
	Paragraph 28 inserts new section 79A into the 1976 Act which defines persons ‘disqualified by reason of immigration status’, which is used in the rest of the new provisions, as meaning someone who is subject to immigration control and has no valid and extant leave in the UK, or no right to undertake the work in question. It also specifies that these provisions apply to those who are on immigration bail who have no right to work, and defines a licensable activity.
	Paragraph 28 also inserts new section 79B which details what are relevant immigration offences and immigration penalties for the purposes of these provisions.