First taxi fees and charges increase for seven years agreed for April

19 Oct 2022

Next April will see the first increase in seven years to the licensing fees and charges the taxi and private hire trade pay in West Suffolk, come into effect.

The new fees and charges are the result of increased work and costs from the national changes in Government guidance that West Suffolk Council must follow. This includes new HM Revenue and Customs tax conditionality checks introduced in April this year and Department For Transport guidance that has increased driver DBS checks from every three years to every six months.

On Tuesday, West Suffolk Council’s Cabinet agreed to the increase, the first since 2015/16, which will now come into effect from 3 April next year.

Cllr Andy Drummond, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Licensing and Regulatory, said: “Let’s be clear, this is not about generating additional income for the council. We are not allowed to do so by law. But we are looking to run a cost neutral service. By increasing these fees and charges, we are effectively asking the trade to cover the increased costs associated with granting licences. These increased costs include the checks that we have to do on their behalf to protect passenger safety and maintain public confidence in the taxi trade.”

“Our priority is to ensure applications are processed in time and the appropriate checks are carried out and if there is any surplus income over a three-year period, it will be used to support the trade.”

The increase follows consultation with the trade between late June and the beginning of August. That consultation wasn’t about whether the trade liked the increases, but on whether they agreed that the council has complied with legislative requirements and used an appropriate approach to setting the fees.

There were four objections, two of which said that passenger fares should go up first – which they did in late August after the licensing committee agreed to proposals put forward from taxi driver Rob Dorling. The proposals to increase fees and charges was included as part of the rationale to increase passenger fares.

Another member of the trade said the rate was high while the fourth said the council should instead reduce the amount of administration.

The tables below include the current fees and charges and the new ones that will come into effect from 3 April 2023.

Proposed fees

Table 1 – Hackney carriage and private hire – yearly

	Current	From 3 April 2023
Hackney carriage vehicle licence	£163	£209
Private hire vehicle licence	£154	£188

Table 2 – Operator’s fees

	Current	From 3 April 2023
Operator fees (one year)	£100	£134
Operator fees (up to three vehicles, three years)	£200
Operator fees (Over three years, three vehicles)	£301
Operator fees (five years)	£502	£539

Please note that because West Suffolk Council does not currently offer one-year and five-year fees, for comparison purposes only, the council has calculated what this would be from the current ‘over three vehicles, three yearly fee’.

Table 3 - Combined driver's fees - three yearly

	Current	From 3 April 2023
Combined driver's fees (one year)	£69	£174
Combined driver's fees (three years)	£206	£308

Please note that because West Suffolk Council does not currently offer combined driver’s fees for one year, for comparison purposes only, the council has calculated what this would be from the current three yearly fee.

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