Taxi fares in West Suffolk to increase from April next year

Taxi fares in the West Suffolk area are set to increase from next April, the first time they have been put up in the past seven years.

The new fees and charges are the result of increased work and costs from the national changes in government guidance that the 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 April 3 next year.

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 and new fees and charges.

New fees

Table 1 – Hackney carriage and private hire – yearly

Table 2 – Operator’s fees

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