The Licensing and Safety Committee convened to discuss and approve the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Fees Report, ultimately voting to approve the recommendations outlined in the report, including the proposed fee structure and the implementation date of 22nd September 2025. The committee also approved the minutes of the previous meeting held on 3rd July 2025.

Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Fees

The committee approved the new fee structure as set out in Appendix 1 of the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Fees Report, to take effect from 22nd September 2025.

The report's purpose was to allow the committee members to consider objections received from the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire trade, and to approve the fees for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire licensing, with or without modification.

Sections 53 and 70 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 empower the council to set fees for licensing hackney carriage¹ and private hire² drivers, vehicles, and operators. The council is required to ensure fees are reasonable and do not exceed the cost of administering the licensing scheme. The proposed fees included a 3% increase for the first year, until 31 March 2026, and further 2% increases (or an increase of CPI³ if lower than 2%) for the following two years. The council proposed increases over three years to reduce administration and consultation costs, and because it anticipated that service costs would increase with inflation. The licensing authority received 160 representations from the trade, which are detailed in Appendix 2 of the report, with council comments following each representation. The representations covered similar ground, with concerns raised about:

• The financial burden on drivers and operators due to rising fuel, insurance and maintenance costs.
• A lack of transparency regarding the financial rationale behind the increases, particularly regarding surpluses generated prior to 2015.
• Demands for the release of full financial records for the taxi licensing service from 2008 or 2010 to the present.
• Calls for a detailed explanation of how past surpluses were used.
• Arguments that licensing fees must be cost-neutral.

The council responded to the representations by stating that the financial information request was dealt with as a formal request, and a response has been provided to those respondents who provided their contact information. The council also noted that consideration of the surplus/deficit has been given when calculating the fees between 2015 and 2024 and is contained within the report.

One representation stated that the council was acting unlawfully by charging varying fees depending on the number of vehicles that the operator may have in their business, and that the operator fees appeared to be an income-generating scheme for the council. The council responded that the operator licences are subject to additional ongoing compliance/enforcement costs, as well as ongoing administrative costs, whereas driver licences are only subject to ongoing administrative costs.

Another representation stated that Kirklees Council had made surplus profits from the licensing account amounting to £4,545,000 from 2008 to 31st March 2025. The council responded that the figures related to the whole of the licensing services, not just the hackney carriage and private hire income and expenditure, and that the published figures quoted are budget figures and are not the revenue outturn figures for the financial years detailed in the table.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting

The committee approved the minutes of the meeting held on 3rd July 2025 as a correct record.