The Home Office has issued changes affecting Right to Licence checks for Licensing Authorities, which takes effect on 6 April 2022 including changes to the acceptable documents list for manual checks to establish a right to a licence.

• From 6 April, Biometric Residence Permit or Card and Frontier Worker Permit holders must use the Home Office online service to prove their right to a licence. From this date, Licensing Authorities will no longer be able to accept physical cards for a manual check for holders of these documents*. Further guidance on conducting online checks can be found in section 3.2 of the guidance.
• EEA and Swiss family members must now hold status under the EU Settlement Scheme.
• Paper or digital Certificates of Application for EUSS applicants can be accepted with a verification from the Status Verification, Enquiries & Checking (SVEC) service (LAs should not use the Employer’s Checking Service).
• There is no longer a requirement for applications to the EUSS from the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey to have been submitted prior to 30 June 2021.

*This does not affect applications for Personal and Premises licences where manual checks of copy documents remain the default, although applicants can use the online service if they wish.

The guidance for preventing illegal working in the taxi & private hire sector is currently being updated to reflect the changes and will link into the acceptable document list in Annex A of the Employers guide, which provides a full list of acceptable documents.

The Code of Practice for avoiding discrimination while preventing illegal working has also been updated with changes coming into force on 6 April. It is recommended that Licensing Authorities consult the Code before making any changes to application processes.