..FEES...FEES...FEES...FEES.. FEES TO BE FROZEN AS TRADE HIT BY PANDEMIC
Licensing fees for taxis and PHVs in Cambridge could be frozen after cabbies were badly hit by the pandemic. CambridgeshireLive reports that Cambridge City Council has proposed not to increase its fees for hackney carriage and private hire vehicle licensing. Papers released by the city council ahead of its Licensing Committee meeting on January 31, explain the proposals have been put forward due to continuing reduced demand. The report said: “Since the start of Covid-19, demand for licensed vehicles in the trade has decreased, due to the var- ious restrictions set by government over the last two years. “Although restrictions eased in July 2021, members of the public are still limiting their activities, including late night economy businesses, which members of the trade have previously relied on for income. “Due to the reduced need for the trade over this time, Cambridge City Council has proposed no change to the cur- rent 2021/22 fees into 2022/23.” The report adds that this decision will impact the licensing department, but costs could be recovered in future years.
PROPOSED CHANGES TO LICENSING FEES
Cheshire East’s licensing committee has looked at increasing some fees and charges for hackney and private hire vehicles. According to the Knutsford Guardian, the matter was being discussed at a meeting on Monday 10 January. Kim Evans, licensing team leader at the council said there were no plans to increase the fees for drivers’ licences either to grant or renew. However, she added: “We still have proposed increases in vehicle licences, the operator licences as well as some increases in the test fees.” At present a hackney or PHV licence is £315 a year. The proposal is to increase that to £320. The test fee would also increase by £5 from £80 to £85. And it is proposed a five-year PH operator’s licence would increase from £360 to £375. All these and other proposed charges will have to be advertised and consulted on.
DRIVERS SET TO SEE LICENSING FEES REDUCED FEE INCREASE TO HELP BALANCE BUDGET
Gedling Borough Council is proposing to increase the cost of having a taxi licence by around 5.5 per cent as the depart- ment responsible for running taxis continues to lose money. The Gedling Eye reports that in a report presented to a meeting on January 18, the council said: “The increases in fees over the past few years have been made to progress towards a full cost recovery model, this year’s increase brings the service a step closer, however, it is anticipated that the service will still be a cost to the council and still require a subsidy to break even.” During the Covid pandemic in 2020, councillors decided not to increase fees for taxi drivers, operators, and vehicles and the fees remained at the 2019/20 level. During 2021/22 fees were raised to reflect the increase in applications received and enforcement work carried out as restrictions were lifted. Details of the proposed fees for 2022/23 will be published and provide for a period of 28 days for any objections. Costs rises include: • a driver licence fee (1 yr) will rise from £158 to 166.50. • a driver licence fee (3 yrs) from £409 to 431.50. • vehicle licence fee from £154 to £162.50 • operator’s licence (1 yr) from £117 plus £117 per additional vehicle to £123.50 plus £123.50 per additional vehicle
• operator’s licence (5 yrs) from £620 plus £175 per additional vehicle to £654 plus £184.50 per additional vehicle
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A new streamlined online processing system brought in during the pandemic means that taxi driving licence fees are set to be reduced in Powys for the next financial year. The County Council’s Planning Committee meeting came to the decision after hearing about the running costs reduction. That system streamlined the process allowing officers to better use their time to “engage and assist the taxi trade”. Senior taxi licensing officer, Sue Jones, explained that the fees for 2022/23 have been calculated on an average of the costs for years 2019/20 before the pandemic, and 2020/21 when Covid emerged. “It means that fees have come out less for 2022/23,” she said, estimating that fee changes would see a loss of £9,000 in income for the authority. “This can be absorbed by the funding already received for public protection services from Welsh Government for additional work carried out in relation to covid compliance. She added that enforcement work had restarted and that the “streamlined online process” brought on by Coronavirus would be kept and that the costs will “unlikely recover” to the same levels.” If councillors agree the proposals, they will then be advertised for 28 days for objections to be lodged. Ms Jones said: “If no objections are made, then these fees will come into effect on April 1.” The fees for 2022/23 which don’t include the cost for DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks are: Hackney carriage private hire (1 yr): £130 – dropping from £148 Driver licence (3 yrs): £248 – dropping from £260 Driver licence (1 yr): £140 - dropping from £150 Private Hire Operators (5 yrs): £387 – dropping from £405.
FEBRUARY 2022
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