Purpose

Background to
report:
 
The Dacorum Taxi Association
acting for its members requested that the Tariffs for licensed
Hackney Carriages be reviewed as they were last renewed in
2022.
 
There are currently three Tariffs:

Tariff ONE - A Standard Day
Rate.
Tariff TWO - A Night, Sunday and
Bank Holiday Rate.
Tariff THREE – A Christmas /
New Year Rate.

 
This structure is not easily understood,
particularly tariff three, and needs to be simplified.
 
The Association requested that the tariffs be
reviewed as operational costs have increased and there has not been
a review since 2022. They asked that two main points in particular
be considered for review:
 

The nighttime rate does not reflect
a reasonable uplift over the daytime rate for working unsocial
hours. For example: £3.50 became £4.20 which is far
short of the standard 1.3 or 1.5 unsociable hours rate commonly
found in other sectors.

 

The introduction of a new Tariff for
multi-seater vehicles between 5-8 seats. Dacorum currently only
allow a single charge no matter how many passengers are carried.
So, for an example 8 people could get a taxi to Watford in a people
carrier vehicle for the same price as a single 4 seater. Prior to
the introduction of the 7-8 seaters the same journey would require
two cars and two fares. Many authorities do have another Tariff for
5-8 seats, including our two closest neighbours: Watford and St
Albans.

 

Please see comparison below, using Tarriff 1.

 
Taxi Comparison - Costs of a 1 mile journey on
Tariff 1
(1 mile – 1760 yards)
 

DBC Current

DBC Proposed

WATFORD

ST ALBANS

440 yards =
£3.50
(quarter
mile)

440 yards =
£3.80
(quarter
mile)

120 yards =
£2.20
(approx. 0.07
mile)

880 yards =
£3.90
(half
mile)

Then 1320 yards
divided by 220 yards = 6 @ 30p = £1.80
 

Then 1320 yards
divided by 220 yards =6 @0.37p = £2.22

Then 840 yards
divided by 70 yards = 12 @ 20p   =
£2.40
Then 800 yards
divided 140 yards = 5.71 @ 20p = £1.14

Then 880 yards
divided by 76.52 yards = 11.5 @ 15p = £1.72
 

£5.30
 

£6.02

£5.74
 

£5.62
 

 
 
 
Proposals and
decision made:
 
 
Following the review the following tariff
structure is proposed:
 

Tariff One -
Fare for carrying 1-4 passengers (standard day
rate)

For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or
part thereof:-

£3.80

For each subsequent 220 yards
(~201.2 m) or part thereof:-

£0.37

Waiting time for each period of
45 seconds or part thereof:-

£0.37

Tariff Two -
Fare for carrying 1-4 passengers (Night, Sunday,
Bank Holiday)

For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m)
or part thereof:-

£5.06

For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or
part thereof:-

£0.49

Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or
part thereof:-

£0.49

Tariff Three -
Fare for carrying 5-8 passengers (standard day
rate)

For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m)
or part thereof:-

£5.70

For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or
part thereof:-

£0.55

Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or
part thereof:-

£0.55

Tariff Four -
Fare for carrying 5-8 passengers (Night, Sunday,
Bank Holiday)

For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m)
or part thereof:-

£7.59

For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or
part thereof:-

£0.73

Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or
part thereof:-

£0.73

Tariff’s Two and Four Applies to
journeys starting:
Between 11pm and 7am on any day | Between 7am and 11pm on Sundays |
On any official Bank Holiday | Or between 6pm and midnight on
Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve

Extra Charges
‘On 24th December and
31st December after 23:00 and on 25th
December and January 1st until midnight, Drivers will
charge double the fare shown on the
meter’.Soiling requiring the
vehicle to be taken out of service for cleaning:-           
£80.00
The passenger(s) shall be liable for any additional tolls, charges,
tariffs, or city centre congestion charges including the Central
London congestion charge

 
Enquiries regarding
any property accidentally left in a hackney carriage should be made
to: www.dacorum.gov.uk/taxi-lost-property
 
 
The key points in summary of the changes in
the Tariff proposal are:
 

An increase of 30p on the starting
day rate
An increase of 86p on the starting
night rate (approx. x 1.5)

 

An increase of 7p on the subsequent
220 yard or 45 seconds daytime
An increase of 12p on the subsequent
220 yard or 45 seconds nighttime

 
 

Two new tariffs that covered 5-8
seats for daytime and nighttime hires. This was estimated to be
approximately 1.5 x the standard rates for 1-4 seats.

 

The soiling charge was increased by
£20.

 

The Christmas and New Year issues
previously mentioned on the 2022 rate card are resolved by a
pragmatic approach of simply doubling what is shown on the meter
for the appropriate journey according to the vehicle size and time
at hire.

This is an approach taken by many other authorities including
Watford and would seem a fair and balanced charging structure.

 
In accordance with section 65 of the Local
Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 on the
9th June 2025 an advertisement was placed in the local
media to be published from Wednesday 11th June 2025 for
14 days.
A notice advertising the fare change with an
example of the proposed Tariffs was also placed in the front window
at The Forum with the other displayed notices.
During the 14-day consultation period. 101
Taxi drivers said they supported the Tariff increase. There were 13
individual objections in total.
 
 

 

Decision

Background to report:
The Dacorum Taxi Association
acting for its members requested that the Tariffs for licensed
Hackney Carriages be reviewed as they were last renewed in
2022.
 
There are currently three
Tariffs:

Tariff ONE - A
Standard Day Rate.
Tariff TWO - A Night,
Sunday and Bank Holiday Rate.
Tariff THREE –
A Christmas / New Year Rate.

 
This structure is not easily
understood, particularly tariff three, and needs to be
simplified.
 
The Association requested that
the tariffs be reviewed as operational costs have increased and
there has not been a review since 2022. They asked that two main
points in particular be considered for review:
 

The nighttime rate
does not reflect a reasonable uplift over the daytime rate for
working unsocial hours. For example: £3.50 became £4.20
which is far short of the standard 1.3 or 1.5 unsociable hours rate
commonly found in other sectors.

 

The introduction of a
new Tariff for multi-seater vehicles between 5-8 seats. Dacorum
currently only allow a single charge no matter how many passengers
are carried. So, for an example 8 people could get a taxi to
Watford in a people carrier vehicle for the same price as a single
4 seater. Prior to the introduction of
the 7-8 seaters the same journey would require two cars and two
fares. Many authorities do have another Tariff for 5-8 seats,
including our two closest neighbours: Watford and St
Albans.

 

Please see comparison below, using Tarriff 1.

 
Taxi Comparison - Costs of a
1 mile journey on Tariff 1
(1 mile – 1760
yards)
 

DBC Current

DBC Proposed

WATFORD

ST ALBANS

440 yards =
£3.50
(quarter
mile)

440 yards =
£3.80
(quarter
mile)

120 yards =
£2.20
(approx. 0.07
mile)

880 yards =
£3.90
(half
mile)

Then 1320 yards
divided by 220 yards = 6 @ 30p = £1.80
 

Then 1320 yards
divided by 220 yards =6 @0.37p = £2.22

Then 840 yards
divided by 70 yards = 12 @ 20p   =
£2.40
Then 800 yards
divided 140 yards = 5.71 @ 20p = £1.14

Then 880 yards
divided by 76.52 yards = 11.5 @ 15p = £1.72
 

£5.30
 

£6.02

£5.74
 

£5.62
 

 
 
 
Proposals and decision made:
 
 
 
Following the review the
following tariff structure is proposed:
 

Tariff One - Fare
for carrying 1-4 passengers (standard day rate)

For the whole distance of 440
yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:-

£3.80

For
each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:-

£0.37

Waiting
time for each period of 45 seconds or part thereof:-

£0.37

Tariff Two - Fare
for carrying 1-4 passengers (Night, Sunday, Bank
Holiday)

For the whole distance
of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:-

£5.06

For each subsequent
220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:-

£0.49

Waiting time for each
period of 45 seconds or part thereof:-

£0.49

Tariff
Three - Fare for carrying 5-8
passengers (standard day rate)

For the whole distance
of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:-

£5.70

For each subsequent
220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:-

£0.55

Waiting time for each
period of 45 seconds or part thereof:-

£0.55

Tariff
Four - Fare for carrying 5-8
passengers (Night, Sunday, Bank Holiday)

For the whole distance
of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:-

£7.59

For each subsequent
220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:-

£0.73

Waiting time for each
period of 45 seconds or part thereof:-

£0.73

Tariff’s Two
and Four Applies to journeys starting:
Between 11pm and 7am on any day | Between 7am and 11pm on Sundays |
On any official Bank Holiday | Or between 6pm and midnight on
Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve

Extra
Charges‘On 24th December and
31st December after 23:00 and on 25th
December and January 1st until midnight, Drivers will
charge double the fare shown on the
meter’.Soiling requiring the
vehicle to be taken out of service for cleaning:-        
£80.00The
passenger(s) shall be liable for any additional tolls, charges,
tariffs, or city centre congestion charges including the Central
London congestion charge

 
Enquiries regarding any property accidentally left in a hackney
carriage should be made to:
www.dacorum.gov.uk/taxi-lost-property
 
 
The key points in summary of
the changes in the Tariff proposal are:
 

An increase of 30p on
the starting day rate
An increase of 86p on
the starting night rate (approx. x 1.5)

 

An increase of 7p on
the subsequent 220 yard or 45 seconds daytime
An increase of 12p on
the subsequent 220 yard or 45 seconds nighttime

 
 

Two new tariffs that
covered 5-8 seats for daytime and nighttime hires. This was
estimated to be approximately 1.5 x the standard rates for 1-4
seats.

 

The soiling charge
was increased by £20.

 

The Christmas and New
Year issues previously mentioned on the 2022 rate card are resolved
by a pragmatic approach of simply doubling what is shown on the
meter for the appropriate journey according to the vehicle size and
time at hire.

This is an approach taken by many other authorities including
Watford and would seem a fair and balanced charging
structure.

 
In accordance with section 65
of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 on the
9th June 2025 an
advertisement was placed in the local media to be published from
Wednesday 11th June 2025 for 14 days.
A notice advertising the fare
change with an example of the proposed Tariffs was also placed in
the front window at The Forum with the other displayed
notices.
During the 14-day consultation
period. 101 Taxi drivers said they supported the Tariff increase.
There were 13 individual objections in total.
 
 

After the 14 day consultation 101 Hackney Carriage drivers
voted for the tariff increase while 12 drivers and 1 member of the
public objected. The reasons for and against were as
follows:
 
FOR:

This was a simple and
understandable tariff  to follow.
Allows for an
appropriate increase to reflect cost of living rises
It has been three
years since the last review.

 
AGAINST:

The Taxi Association
was not representative of the trade as a whole and its membership
was less than half of the Dacorum drivers.
The increase in fares
would make the use of Hackney Carriages too expensive in an already
declining trade.
It would alienate
them by making the competition from the likes of Uber and cross
boundary hires far more attractive to customers.

 
 
The decision is made to
update the tariffs for licensed Hackney Carriages by
adopting the Proposal that has been
publicised due to the cost of living
increase. The majority of drivers agreed that
a fare increase was due although those that were against the rises
felt that this proposal was too much for the trade to remain
competitive
 
In response to the Association
not being truly representative of all drivers it was obvious that
there is no possible way to hold an overall discussion where
everyone would be in agreement.
Therefore, it served reasonably adequately as a starting point for
consensus of views.
 
The competition from Uber along
with cross boarder cheaper private hires is a factor and there is
no doubt that this has had a detrimental effect on the taxi trade.
Due to the Deregulation Act 2015 there
is very little that the Local Authority to manage this
position.
 
 
In addition, the last Tariff
change was in May 2022 and the previous one before then was from
February 2018. On that basis a new review is due.
 
Other authorities also have a
structure similar to this proposal, and the tariffs proposed are
comparative to Watford and St Albans council as highlighted in the
table above.