New Home Office rule makes some private hire operators personally responsible for right-to-work checks from 1 October 2026

# What the change is From 1 October 2026 the Home Office is expanding the Right to Work scheme to make the organisation that engages someone for work or services responsible for checking that person's right to work. That can include private hire operators and taxi companies that use self-employed drivers or subcontracted labour.

# Why this matters to operators Local licensing authorities have checked immigration status for taxi and PHV licence applicants since 2016. Those checks determine whether someone can hold a licence and whether a licence runs beyond a time-limited right to work. The Home Office change is a separate employer-facing requirement: it asks the business that engages the worker to demonstrate it took reasonable steps to prevent illegal working.

A driver's current badge or licensing authority check will not automatically prove that an operator has met the new Home Office obligations. Whether an operator needs to perform its own check depends on how drivers are engaged — for example, direct employees, self-employed subcontractors, or platform-intermediated arrangements.

# Penalties and legal risks

The Home Office says reliance on licensing authority checks alone has left ambiguity about who is accountable when illegal working is found, particularly in intermediary or platform-based models. The expanded rules aim to place clear responsibility on the organisation that engages the person to provide services.

# Industry reaction and immediate issues Association (LPHCA) has criticised the Home Office's communication with the sector and says it has written to government seeking better engagement. The LPHCA intends to ask for implementation or penalties to be paused pending clearer consultation. No postponement has been announced.

Operators face practical questions about how to adapt: which categories of drivers and subcontractors fall within scope, how to document checks, and how to align these checks with existing licensing and HMRC tax-check processes. The HMRC tax check and licensing immigration checks are separate processes and do not replace the operator's new responsibilities under the Home Office scheme.

# Practical next steps for operators

• Review engagement models to identify where drivers are subcontractors, self-employed, or engaged via platforms.
• Map current documentation and processes against the Home Office requirements to see where additional checks or record-keeping are needed.
• Open conversations with licensing authorities and trade bodies to clarify overlap and avoid duplication.
• Seek legal or compliance advice on establishing the statutory defence and on documentation that will be accepted if non-compliance is alleged.

# Bottom line