Liverpool conditions and byelaws: questions and answers
35 practice questions for the Liverpool City Council taxi and private hire knowledge test, with answers and explanations at the end.
Free from taxiknowledgetest.co.uk. Not an official council or TfL document: check the current official guidance.
Questions
Telling the Council about changes (private hire)
You find out the police are investigating you for a criminal offence. How soon must you tell the Council?
You receive penalty points on your driving licence. How soon must you tell the Council in writing?
You move to a new home. How soon must you tell the Council your new address?
You stop taking bookings from one operator and move to another. How soon must you tell the Council?
Your private hire vehicle plate is stolen. Who must you tell?
Your doctor gives you a new medicine that may affect your driving. What must you do?
Which medical standard does Liverpool use for licensed drivers?
An authorised officer asks to see your insurance certificate, but you do not have it with you. How long do you have to show it to the Council?
Conduct and your vehicle (private hire)
Where must the front interior licence plate go on a private hire vehicle?
You are waiting for a passenger. Are you allowed to use an e-cigarette in your vehicle?
A person on the street waves you down and asks for a ride. They have not booked. What must you do?
A family is getting in your vehicle. How old must a child appear to be before they may sit beside you in the front?
A friend asks you for a lift while you have a passenger on board. When may your friend travel with you?
A passenger disagrees with you about a fare and becomes angry. What do the conditions tell you to do?
A passenger gives you a destination but no directions. Which way must you go?
A passenger leaves an expensive laptop on the back seat. What must you do?
You have a medical condition that dogs make worse. How can you avoid carrying assistance dogs?
Hackney carriage byelaws
You are driving a hackney carriage that is not hired. You reach a stand, but it is full. What must you do?
You arrive at a stand with a free space. Where do you place your hackney carriage?
A passenger gets in and you start a metered journey. What must the meter show before you set off?
At what times must you keep the meter dial lit during a hiring?
A passenger asks to go to an address inside the district. When may you take the money?
Your hackney carriage has a working card terminal. A passenger wants to pay by card. What must you do?
A passenger asks you for a receipt. What do the byelaws say?
You find a wallet in your hackney carriage after a journey. How soon must you tell the Council?
You found a passenger's mobile phone and could not return it within 48 hours. Where must it go?
What must a hackney carriage carry for use in a fire?
Before someone drives your hackney carriage, what must you make sure they can do, as proprietor?
Your licence and renewal
How long do you have to pass the Liverpool Standard Part 2 after you get your first licence?
You want to renew your licence. How long before it expires must you apply?
Your licence expires before you renew it. How will the Council treat you?
You are over 65. How often must you renew your driver licence?
You have been in a collision. How soon must the proprietor report it to the Council?
Your application is refused and you want to appeal. How long do you have to lodge the appeal?
An old conviction is shown as spent. Must you still declare it on your application?
Answers
- C. Within 24 hours. You must tell the Council within 24 hours of becoming aware that you are under investigation for a criminal offence, on police bail, or facing court proceedings. Condition 2 also requires written notice within 5 working days.
- B. Within 5 working days. Motoring offences, penalty points, convictions, fixed penalty notices and cautions must be reported in writing within 5 working days.
- D. Within 7 days. The conditions give you 7 days to tell the Council about a change of address.
- A. Within 72 hours. The Council must know which operator you take bookings from, and you must tell it within 72 hours of a change.
- B. The Council and Merseyside Police. Report a lost or stolen plate to the Council as soon as you find out. A stolen plate must also be reported to Merseyside Police.
- C. Stop driving and contact the Council at once. You must stop driving private hire vehicles and contact the Council straight away if a medical condition or medicine may affect your driving.
- D. Group 2, the lorry and bus driver standard. The Council has adopted the higher Group 2 standard, the one used for lorry and bus drivers.
- A. 72 hours. If you cannot show the certificate when asked, you must present it to Liverpool City Council within 72 hours.
- D. Top left corner of the windscreen. The conditions say the front interior plate must be fixed to the top left corner of the windscreen. The other licence plate goes securely on the rear of the vehicle.
- C. No, not at any time. You must not smoke in the vehicle at any time, and this includes any electronic smoking device while you are inside it.
- A. Refuse and tell them to book through an operator. A private hire driver must not offer a vehicle for hire to people who have not booked, and must not tout for passengers.
- B. At least 10 years old. You must not let a child who appears to be under 10 travel in the front beside you.
- B. Only if the hirer agrees. You must not carry any person in the vehicle without the consent of the hirer.
- C. Avoid confrontation and use the proper legal channels. Condition 27 says disputes should go through appropriate legal channels, and you must avoid confrontation.
- D. The shortest practicable route. Unless the hirer gives other directions, you must go to the destination by the shortest practicable route.
- A. Report it to the operator and take it to the nearest police station. Report found property to the operator. If the item has significant value, it must also go to the nearest police station.
- B. Apply for an exemption, with medical evidence. Drivers must carry assistance dogs. You may apply for an exemption certificate if you can give suitable medical evidence.
- C. Go on to another stand. Byelaw 8 says that if a stand is already full, you must go on to another stand.
- A. Behind the last carriage, facing the same way. You must stop immediately behind the carriages already on the stand, facing the same direction, and move up as those in front drive off.
- D. The word HIRED. Before the journey you must bring the meter into action so that the word HIRED can be read on it, and keep it running until the hiring ends.
- D. From half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise. The dial must be lit between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise, and at any other time if the hirer asks.
- B. Only at the end of the journey. For a journey that ends in the district you may only take payment at the end. You must not ask for a deposit or part payment in advance.
- A. Use the terminal to take the payment. If your card terminal works and the passenger wants to pay by card, the byelaw says you must use it.
- C. You must give one, and keep blank receipts in the cab. You must give a receipt when the hirer asks, and keep a reasonable number of blank receipt forms in the carriage.
- A. Within 72 hours. You must tell the Council within 72 hours. You must also try to return the property to its owner within 48 hours.
- B. A Merseyside Police enquiry office. If you cannot return it within 48 hours, valuable items such as phones, cash and laptops must be handed in promptly to a Merseyside Police enquiry office.
- D. An efficient fire extinguisher, easy to reach. The proprietor must provide an efficient fire extinguisher, carried where it is ready for use.
- C. Use the wheelchair ramp, anchor straps and swivel seat. Byelaw 18 says the proprietor must make sure the driver knows these facilities and is fully competent to use them.
- A. 12 months. The Council says all drivers must pass Part 2 within 12 months of being granted their first taxi licence, and it will not renew a licence without it.
- B. 21 days. The Council says you must apply 21 days before your old licence expires. It does not issue temporary licences.
- C. As a new applicant. If you do not renew before your licence expires, you must be treated as a new applicant.
- D. Every year. Drivers over 65 must renew every year. Younger drivers get a three-year licence.
- A. Within 72 hours. The Council says proprietors of licensed hackney carriages and private hire vehicles must report an accident within 72 hours of it happening.
- B. 21 days from the written notice. An appeal must be lodged within 21 days of receiving written notice of the decision. The Guidance says this deadline cannot be extended.
- D. Yes, you must declare all convictions and cautions. The Guidance says every applicant must disclose all convictions and cautions, because offences are never treated as spent for these licences.
Sources
- Private Hire Driver Licence Conditions, Liverpool City Council, In force from 1 December 2018. Checked 1 November 2026. https://liverpool.gov.uk/media/5osda3lq/phv-driver-conditions.pdf
- Byelaws with respect to hackney carriages plying for hire, Liverpool City Council, Sealed 9 October 2018; in force from 1 January 2019. Checked 1 November 2026. https://liverpool.gov.uk/media/20xjld2z/hackney-carriage-byelaws.pdf
- Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver Licensing Guidance Document, Liverpool City Council, Dated 6 January 2020; revised fees and contact details as of 1 July 2025; the Council says it is under review. Checked 1 November 2026. https://liverpool.gov.uk/media/353giwrf/hackney-and-private-hire-driver-licensing-guidance-july-25.pdf
- Renew a private hire or Hackney licence, Liverpool City Council, Undated. Checked 1 November 2026. https://liverpool.gov.uk/business/licences-and-permits/taxi-licences/licences-for-drivers/renew-a-private-hire-or-hackney-licence/
- Report an offence or accident, Liverpool City Council, Undated. Checked 1 November 2026. https://liverpool.gov.uk/business/licences-and-permits/taxi-licences/report-an-offence-or-accident/