SLIGHT DROP in licensing fees could be agreed to help Powys cabbies during pandemic recovery

Powys County Council’s licensing committee are set to discuss proposals which would see licence fees for taxi and private hire drivers reduced to help during the trade's recovery from the pandemic.

In April 2021 the committee agreed to freeze licensing fees as the pandemic was still causing major financial stress on the taxi and private hire industry.

The latest figures proposed and up for discussion are based on an average taken from the costs for years 2019/20 and 2020/21.

If no objections are made to the proposals, fees that would come into

effect on 1 April, would be:

• Hackney carriage private hire (1 year): £130 – dropping from £148

• Driver licence (3 years): £248 – dropping from £260

• Driver licence (1 year) : £140 -dropping from £150

• Private Hire Operators (5 years): £387 – dropping from £405.

These figures do not include the costs for driver DBS checks, which will need to be paid by drivers and applicants where needed.

The reduced fees would mean the council could lose out on approximately £9,000, but this would be absorbed by the funding received for public protection services from the Welsh Government.

Taxi licensing officer Sue Jones has said that calculations for the year 2023/24 would be based on the council’s current costs for 2021/22.