This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Private Hire operators and associated vehicles'.

Bath & North East Somerset Council 
Request for Information 
 
Requested information  
 
Please provide the most up-to-date number of registered drivers for each 
Private Hire operator within your area. 
 
Response 
 
The primary legislation governing the issue of Private hire licenses requires 
that the Council maintain a register of certain information that must be kept for 
inspection by the public at all reasonable times. The Council complies with 
this by keeping a register of Private Hire Drivers which it freely allows to be 
inspected at its offices at the Transport Services Depot, Locksbrook Road, 
Bath BA1 3EL.  This complies with the requirement to have the information in 
the public domain and protects the interests of licensees from unsolicited 
contact by third parties.  
 
Advice from the Office of Information Commissioners states that providing a 
copy of the register is not lawful and as such would be a breach of the first 
data principle.  The Information Commissioner’s Office has stated “The 
Commissioner has balanced the interests of the public in having access to 
this information against the rights and legitimate interests of the individuals 
named in the register. He has concluded that whilst those individuals will have 
been made aware that the details in the register would be available for local 
inspection, they would also have a legitimate expectation that that would be 
the extent of the publication by the local authority.” 
 
The Private Hire register only requires that the name of the driver, the date for 
which the licence is granted and the serial number of the licence be 
registered. 
 
There is no requirement to keep a public register of Private Hire Operators 
and many of our Operators are self-employed individuals who operate from a 
home address with a home telephone number  and do not wish this 
information to be divulged to third parties. Similarly we also have Executive 
Hire Operators who work in the corporate and security sectors who do not 
advertise publicly and offer a discreet service.   
 
However some Operators may well advertise their services freely and these 
will already be in the public domain and freely available through other 
sources. 
 
However in accordance with the Openness of Local Government Bodies 
Regulations 2014 all licensing decisions including the grant of Private Hire 
Operators can be found on the public portal available here which includes 
trading names. 
  https://isharemaps.bathnes.gov.uk/data.aspx?RequestType=ParseTemplate
&Template=LicensingSearchSimple.tmplt