Solihull driver conditions: questions and answers
41 practice questions for the Solihull Metropolitan Borough 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
You move to a new house. How long do you have to tell the Council?
How must you tell the Council about a change of address?
The police ask you to come to a voluntary interview. You are not charged. What must you do?
You get a Notice of Intended Prosecution for speeding. When must you tell the Council?
Your operator has already told the Council about your caution. Do you still have to tell the Council?
Another council suspends your licence with them, with immediate effect. When must you tell Solihull?
You develop a medical condition and no longer meet the DVLA Group 2 standard. What must you do?
You lose your driver badge. How long do you have to report it?
You have reported your lost badge. Can you keep working while you wait for a new one?
Your badge, DBS and testing
How must you wear your driver badge?
You grow a full beard, and you no longer look like your badge photo. What must you do?
Who owns your driver badge?
You cannot subscribe to the DBS Update Service. How often must you give the Council a new enhanced DBS certificate?
The status of your DBS certificate changes on the Update Service. What must you show the Council within 48 hours?
The Council does not have permission to check your DBS status. Can you take passengers?
When can you be asked to take a drug or alcohol test?
Conduct and appearance
A regular passenger offers you her mobile number so you can chat. What must you do?
It is a hot day. Which clothing breaks the conditions?
Which shoes are allowed while you work?
The vehicle is empty and you want to use your vape inside it. Is this allowed?
A passenger smoked in your private hire vehicle. Who must you report this to?
You feel very tired, but a booking is waiting. What do the conditions say?
Which equipment must you not use?
You are waiting in a residential street for your next booking. Which of these could break the conditions?
You have no booking. Can you wait outside a busy restaurant or a railway station?
You are working in another town. A licensing officer from that council makes a reasonable request. What must you do?
Before the journey
A passenger asks for your name and badge number. What must you do?
You arrive at the pick-up point. A passenger who is blind cannot find your vehicle. What should you do?
A passenger wants to sit in the front seat of your private hire vehicle. It is a licensed seat. What applies?
A passenger has a dog that is still being trained as an assistance dog. How must you treat it?
You hold an Equality Act exemption certificate. Where must it be shown?
When must you tell passengers about the cashless ways they can pay?
Your friend wants to come along for the ride on a booked journey. What applies?
During and after the journey
Unless the passenger asks for something else, which route must you take?
When may you play the radio with a passenger on board?
When may you make a phone call with a passenger on board?
You are worried that a child passenger is under the control of someone who puts them at risk. There is no immediate danger. How soon must you report it?
What are you allowed to eat or drink during a journey?
A passenger wants to eat a sandwich in your vehicle. Who decides if this is allowed?
A passenger asks for a receipt. Which of these must it show?
You find a bag on the back seat at the end of a booked journey. What must you do with it?
Answers
- B. 48 hours. Changes to your name, address, phone number or email must be told to the Council within 48 hours.
- C. By email. The conditions say to email licensing@solihull.gov.uk.
- A. Tell the Council within 48 hours. A voluntary interview is on the list of things to report within 48 hours. You do not have to be charged first.
- D. Within 48 hours. A Notice of Intended Prosecution must be reported within 48 hours, the same as a driving conviction or endorsement.
- B. Yes, you must tell them yourself. You must make the report yourself, even if someone else has already told the Council.
- A. Immediately. An invitation to a licence review elsewhere has a 48-hour limit, but a suspension or revocation with immediate effect must be reported immediately.
- C. Stop driving at once and tell the Council within 48 hours. You must stop driving immediately and report it by email within 48 hours.
- A. 48 hours. The loss of a badge or paper licence must be reported by email within 48 hours.
- C. No, not until you have the new badge. You must not do any journeys until you have the replacement. There is a fee for it.
- B. On a lanyard or a clip, with name and photo showing. The badge goes on a lanyard around your neck or is clipped to your clothes, and your name and photo must be visible.
- D. Buy a new badge with a current photo. Customers and officers must be able to recognise you from the photo. If your appearance changes a lot, you must buy a new badge.
- C. The Licensing Authority. The badge stays the property of the Licensing Authority, and it must go back when the licence ends.
- B. Every six months. A driver who cannot join the Update Service must provide a new enhanced certificate every six months.
- A. That you have applied for a new DBS certificate. You must give the Council evidence within 48 hours that you have applied for a new certificate.
- D. No, you must not do any journeys. You must not do any journeys while the Council cannot check the status of your certificate.
- C. At any time. The conditions say a driver may be required to take a drug or alcohol test at any time.
- B. Do not take or keep it. You must not ask for or keep personal contact details, or try to build a personal relationship with a passenger.
- C. A sleeveless vest. The upper part of your arms and your shoulders must be covered.
- D. Shoes that cover the whole foot to the ankle. Your shoes must cover the foot completely, up to the ankle.
- A. No, not by anyone at any time. The ban covers cigarettes, e-cigarettes and vapes. It applies to everyone in the vehicle, all the time.
- B. The operator, right after the journey. You must report it to the operator who took the booking, immediately after the journey.
- D. You must not drive if you are tired. Before every journey you must be fit and awake. If you are tired, do not drive.
- A. A speed trap detector. The conditions ban radio scanner equipment and speed trap detectors.
- B. Keeping the engine running for a long time. Long or needless engine idling, a loud radio and loud talking can all be a nuisance to residents.
- D. No, as you may look available for hire. Without a booking from your operator, you must not park or wait in a prominent place where you look available for hire.
- B. Co-operate with the officer. Officers from other councils can make reasonable requests of you, and you must help them.
- A. Give them. You must give your name and badge number to any passenger who asks.
- B. Help them, at no extra charge. You must make yourself known on arrival and help any passenger who asks to identify the vehicle, at no extra charge.
- D. They can choose any licensed seat. Passengers must be allowed to sit in the licensed seat they choose.
- B. As an assistance dog. The conditions say trainee assistance dogs must be treated as though they were assistance dogs.
- C. On the front windscreen, facing out. It must face outwards from the front windscreen, and be handed to any passenger who asks for it.
- D. Before the journey starts. Passengers must know about cashless payment before the journey begins.
- B. Not allowed unless the hirer agrees. No one else may be in the vehicle without the consent of the person who hired it.
- C. The cheapest route for the passenger. You must drive by the cheapest route for the passenger unless they ask otherwise, and tell them of any change to the expected route.
- B. If the passenger agrees. Radio or music may not be played unless the passenger agrees. Equipment for sending or receiving messages about your work is the exception.
- A. In an emergency, hands-free and lawfully. Calls are not allowed while you have passengers, except in an emergency, and then they must be hands-free and lawful.
- D. As soon as possible, and within 24 hours at most. Tell a safeguarding body or other relevant authority quickly: 24 hours is the longest you may wait. If the danger is immediate, call 999.
- B. Only water, if it is safe. You must not eat during a journey. You may drink water if it is safe to do so.
- C. The driver. It is for the driver to decide whether passengers may eat or drink in the vehicle.
- D. The operator that took the booking. A receipt must show your name or licence number, the vehicle registration or licence number, the date and time, the fare paid and the operator.
- C. Tell the operator at once and take it to them within 48 hours. Tell the operator who gave you the booking straight away, and get the item to them within 48 hours.
Sources
- Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Licensing Handbook (Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Policy 2026), version 1.2, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Version 1.2, dated 1 July 2026, the day it came into force; PDF file created 27 July 2026. Checked 1 November 2026. https://www.solihull.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2026-05/Taxi-Private-Hire-Licensing-Policy.pdf
- Private hire and hackney carriage driver licence guide, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Undated. Checked 1 November 2026. https://www.solihull.gov.uk/business/licences/taxi-licensing/private-hire-and-hackney-carriage-driver-licence-guide
- Taxi licensing frequently asked questions, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Undated. Checked 1 November 2026. https://www.solihull.gov.uk/business/licences/taxi-licensing/taxi-licensing-frequently-asked-questions