Bradford licensing compliance: questions and answers
36 practice questions for the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council taxi and private hire knowledge test, with answers and explanations at the end.
Free from taxiknowledgetest.co.uk. Not an official council document: check your council's current guidance.
Questions
Telling the council
You are convicted of a motoring offence while licensed in Bradford. When must you tell the council?
You are a private hire driver and you move house. When must you tell the council in writing?
You change to a different private hire operator. What else do you need, apart from telling the council within 7 days?
You find out you have a medical condition you did not declare before. What must you do?
Your licensed vehicle is damaged in a collision and the damage affects its safety. When must it be reported?
You send the council an email copy of your insurance. What else must you do?
A hackney carriage proprietor lets a new licensed driver use the vehicle. When must the proprietor tell the council?
The police give your hackney carriage a vehicle defect rectification notice. Within how long must you present the vehicle at Shearbridge Depot?
When should you apply to renew your enhanced DBS check?
Private hire rules
Which passengers may a Bradford private hire driver carry?
You are a private hire driver waiting in the city centre with no booking. Which of these is allowed?
When must a Bradford private hire driver wear the driver badge?
Your private hire licence is suspended. What must you do with your badge?
Which colour rule applies to Bradford private hire vehicles?
A passenger leaves a phone in your private hire vehicle. Nobody claims it within 24 hours. What must you do?
A passenger is sick in your private hire vehicle and you cannot carry on working until it is cleaned. What may you do?
Your private hire vehicle breaks down on a main road. What does the condition say?
What must a private hire driver do about receipts and fares?
Conduct and passengers
It is 2pm and you arrive to collect a passenger. When may you sound your horn outside the address?
A passenger asks if they can smoke in your licensed vehicle with the window open. What do you say?
A blind passenger with a guide dog books your vehicle. You have no exemption certificate. What must you do?
Can you bring your own dog with you in your licensed vehicle while you are working?
A passenger has more bags than the boot holds. What is the rule?
When may a Bradford private hire driver use a hand-held mobile phone?
You have a booking for 7am but you are running late with no good reason. Which condition are you breaking?
How does Bradford expect its private hire drivers to behave and dress?
Which of these is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, as listed in the Bradford conditions?
Hackney carriages in Bradford
What livery must a Bradford hackney carriage have?
When should you switch on the meter in a Bradford hackney carriage?
Which route must you take when hired to a destination?
Your plate says 4 passengers. How are young children counted under the Bradford byelaws?
Where must a Bradford hackney carriage driver wear the badge?
You are standing on a rank. Can you call out to people to get them to hire your taxi?
A passenger in your hackney carriage asks to see a copy of the byelaws. What must you do?
Your hackney carriage breaks down on a rank and cannot be fixed at once. What must you do?
Which signs must a Bradford wheelchair accessible hackney carriage show?
Answers
- B. In writing, within 7 days. Drivers must declare any conviction and tell the council in writing within seven days.
- C. Within 7 calendar days. During a licence period the driver must tell the council in writing within 7 calendar days of any change of home address or operator.
- D. A new driver badge. For a change of operator, or an additional operator, a new driver badge must be obtained. The council charges £5 for a change of operator badge.
- A. Tell the council within 7 days and give a medical certificate if asked. Drivers who become aware of a medical condition not disclosed before must tell the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Service within 7 days, and give a medical certificate if required.
- C. Within 72 hours, or as soon as reasonably practicable. Proprietors or drivers involved in incidents that cause material damage affecting safety, performance or appearance, or passengers' comfort, must report it to the council within 72 hours, or as soon as reasonably practicable.
- A. Present the paper copy at Shearbridge within 7 days. An emailed copy of the insurance is accepted, but the hard copy must be presented at Shearbridge within 7 days.
- B. Within 7 days, in writing. Proprietors must tell the council in writing the name and address of every licensed driver driving their vehicle, and of any driver who stops, within seven days.
- D. Within 7 days. A proprietor given a Vehicle Defect Rectification Notice by the police must present the vehicle for test and inspection at Shearbridge Depot within seven days, and pay the fee.
- A. At least 6 weeks before your licence application or expiry. It is the driver's responsibility to apply for or refresh their DBS at least 6 weeks before the licence application or expiry. A licence is not granted without a valid enhanced DBS.
- C. Passengers who booked through the operator the driver works for. Private hire drivers must only accept passengers for pre-booked journeys made through the licensed private hire operator they work for.
- D. Waiting at your operator's base for your next job. Private hire drivers must not call out or gesture to attract passengers, must not wait in a position to attract passengers, and must not take a "flag" from a member of the public.
- B. At all times, worn conspicuously. Drivers of private hire vehicles must at all times conspicuously wear their driver's licence badge.
- A. Return it to the council as instructed. On the expiry, revocation or suspension of a private hire driver licence, the driver must return the badge to the council as instructed.
- D. They must not be white and all one colour. Private hire vehicles must not be white and all one colour. All-white is the hackney carriage colour in Bradford.
- C. Take it to the nearest police station drop-off point. Search the vehicle after each hiring. Property not claimed by the passenger within 24 hours must be deposited at the nearest police station drop-off point.
- A. Ask the passenger for a reasonable amount to clean it. Where a passenger fouls the interior so that the driver cannot continue working with the vehicle, the driver may demand a reasonable amount of money to clean it.
- B. Remove it from the road as soon as reasonably practicable. In a breakdown the vehicle must be removed from the public highway as soon as reasonably practicable, and must never cause an obstruction.
- B. Give a receipt when asked, and keep records of fares. Where requested, drivers must provide receipts for fares paid, and in any case keep records of fares.
- B. Only in an emergency. Whatever the time of day, drivers must not sound the horn outside any premises where they are picking up passengers, except in emergencies.
- C. No, nobody may smoke in the vehicle. Drivers or proprietors must not smoke, or allow a passenger to smoke, in the vehicle.
- D. Carry the passenger and the dog safely. Drivers must safely carry a guide dog or other assistance animal, unless the council has issued them an exemption certificate. An exemption certificate must be displayed where the public can see it.
- A. No, you must not carry your own animal. Drivers must not carry any animal that belongs to them or the proprietor. A passenger's animal may be carried safely at the driver's discretion.
- B. Carry luggage only up to what the vehicle allows, kept out of seating space. Drivers must carry luggage up to the quantity allowed for the vehicle, make sure it does not intrude into a passenger's seating area, and help with loading and unloading.
- A. Never while driving. Drivers must not use a hand-held mobile phone or other device while driving.
- B. The rule on punctual attendance. Drivers must attend punctually at the agreed time and place of hire, unless delayed or prevented by some justifiable cause.
- C. Polite, considerate and orderly, clean and respectable. Drivers must always be polite, considerate and orderly, and present themselves in a clean and respectable state of appearance and dress.
- A. Religion or belief. The conditions list the protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
- D. Solid white, with a diagonal green stripe on the front doors. A Bradford hackney carriage must be solid white, with a single diagonal green stripe on both front doors, together with the council crest and the vehicle plate number.
- B. At the start of the journey. The meter must be put on only at the start of the journey, and it may only show the two tariffs in the council's table of fares.
- B. The shortest and most reasonable available route, unless the hirer says otherwise. The driver must go to the destination by the shortest and most reasonable available route, subject to any directions from the hirer.
- C. Two children under 10 count as one, and under-3s with an adult are not counted. Under the Bradford byelaw, two children under ten count as one person, and children under three are not counted if an adult is with them.
- A. On the left breast, outside the outer garment. The byelaw says the badge must be worn on the left breast, outside the outer garment, so it is plainly and distinctly visible at all times when standing, plying or driving for hire.
- D. No, canvassing is not allowed. When standing or plying for hire, the proprietor or driver must not call out or otherwise importune anyone to hire the taxi, and must not use anyone else to do it.
- B. Show them a copy. At all times when standing, plying or driving for hire, the driver must produce a copy of the byelaws when asked by an authorised officer, a constable or any person in the taxi.
- C. Arrange its removal and put a notice on it saying it cannot be used. A disabled taxi must not stay on a stand longer than needed to arrange its removal. If it cannot be fixed at once, the driver must put a notice on it saying it cannot be used and will be removed for repair.
- B. Two side TAXI stickers and one rear, a wheelchair logo, and the green stripe, crest and plate number. Wheelchair accessible hackney carriages must display two side and one rear TAXI sticker, a wheelchair logo sticker, and the green stripe, crest and plate number.
Sources
- Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licence Standards and Procedures, Vehicle Licence Conditions (Conditions Book), City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, New edition June 2015, including policy changes of August 2013, January 2015 and March 2019. The council lists it as "Conditions Book - March 2019".. Checked 29 October 2026. https://www.bradford.gov.uk/media/1275/hackney-carriage-and-private-hire-conditions-and-standards.pdf
- Agreed changes to conditions, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Undated web page; latest entry May 2025.. Checked 29 October 2026. https://www.bradford.gov.uk/transport-and-travel/hackney-carriages-and-private-hire/agreed-changes-to-conditions/
- Driver and vehicle fees, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Undated web page.. Checked 29 October 2026. https://www.bradford.gov.uk/transport-and-travel/hackney-carriages-and-private-hire/driver-and-vehicle-fees/