Taxi and private hire licensing

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If you wish to make an appointment at either Riverside, Lowestoft, or East Suffolk House, Melton, for a new application, a renewal or to collect vehicle plates then please contact our Licensing Team.

We have a statutory responsibility to licence the hackney carriage (taxi) and private hire trade operating within our area.

Vehicles used as hackney carriages and for private hire must be licensed. This also applies to drivers and, in the case of a private hire business, the operator.

The council can only licence vehicles with up to 8 passenger seats. Anything above this is dealt with by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.

Changes to Immigration Status in the UK

Throughout 2024, the government is replacing physical immigration documents with digital proof of immigration status for customers already living in the UK and new visa customers too.

By 2025, almost all physical immigration products and services will be replaced with a digital record of a person’s immigration status called an eVisa. The documents being replaced include:

Biometric residence permits (BRPs)
Legacy paper documents, including passports that contain an ink stamp or vignette sticker (where the holder has indefinite leave to enter or indefinite leave to remain)
Biometric residence cards (BRCs)

For further information please visit the Government website.

DBS fees are changing in December

From Monday 2nd December 2024, fees for DBS checks will change.

The new fees will be as follows:

Update Service – £16 (per year)
Basic DBS check – £21.50
Standard DBS check – £21.50
Enhanced DBS check – £49.50
Enhanced DBS check with Barred List(s) – £49.50

Writing on gov.uk, the Government wrote:

“The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is funded by the fees paid from DBS check customers, and therefore fee changes can be required to meet the increased operational costs of delivering DBS’ safeguarding service. Each DBS check has its own price that is designed to cover all costs of that specific check, and each check’s fee is scrutinised separately.

DBS reviews its fees on an annual basis, and based on operational and legislative requirements, fees may change. Fees have been reduced in the past, where it has been possible to do so. For example, pre-October 2019, a Standard DBS check was priced at £26, and a Basic check was £25. Both are higher than the new rate of £21.50 that will be coming into place on 2nd December.

The new fees have been analysed and approved by the DBS board, Home Office, HM Treasury, and Minister for Safeguarding, and fall well below the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rates.

These changes are necessary to maintain the highest quality, to allow DBS to effectively safeguard our society.

Quality remains at the core of what DBS does in its products, in the services DBS provides, and in the decisions that it makes, and the new fees will help maintain the high-quality service that DBS provides to safeguard our society.”

Hackney carriage (taxi) and private hire vehicles

The main difference between a hackney carriage (taxi) vehicle and a private hire vehicle is that hackney carriages are permitted to use designated ranks and can also be hailed down in the street. They are usually identified with a TAXI sign on the roof and the council approves the maximum tariff for fares and other charges.

There are two different tariffs for hackney carriages within East Suffolk; one in the north of the district and one in the south (the former Waveney and Suffolk Coastal geographical areas). East Suffolk Hackney Carriage licence holders must choose one of these areas. The vehicle plate will identify the chosen area.

Private hire vehicles cannot be hailed down in the street and must be pre-booked via the office or base of a licensed ‘private hire operator'. Private hire vehicles must not have roof signs but are permitted to have stickers and signs. There is no set fare for a private hire vehicle journey, so the fare price should be confirmed at the time of booking.

Hackney carriage (taxi) and private hire vehicles in our district are required to have large licence plates fixed to the rear of the vehicle showing the council’s logo, the licence number, vehicle type and registration, and the licence expiry date. A smaller version of this licence plate must also be displayed on the inside of the front screen of the vehicle.

In addition to this the licensed driver is required to wear an identity badge showing the driver’s licence number, an ID photo, and licence expiry date.

Applying for a hackney carriage (taxi) or private hire driver's licence

If you would like to become a licensed driver there are several checks and a college course which you will have to pass, with separate fees payable for each of the checks:

A basic reading, writing and arithmetic test
An enhanced level Disclosure and Barring (DBS) check
A DVLA check
A medical check (unless you hold a PCV or HGV licence)
A driving skills test and theory test
A local geographical knowledge test (for hackney carriage drivers only)
A two day college course ‘The Role of a Professional Taxi and Private Hire Driver

There are a number of conditions attached to driver's licences and they can be found in our Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy below which you can download or print.

We will help applicants/existing drivers with filling in the DBS form when they come to our offices for their appointment.

Important: We are under a duty to protect the public funds we administer, and to this end may use the information you have provided on your application form for the prevention and detection of fraud. We may also share this information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds for these purposes. Find out more about how we share information as part of the National Fraud Initiative.

Tax conditionality

New tax requirement for applications to certain licences are being put in place by the Government. The tax check should only take a few minutes every few years and it is simple to confirm that someone is appropriately registered for tax.

Existing licence holders will be required to complete a tax check from 4 April 2022 for renewal of the following licences:

combined hackney carriage and private hire drivers licence
private hire drivers licence
private hire operator licence

The tax check can completed on GOV.UK, through a Government Gateway account GOV.UK - Complete a tax check for a taxi, private hire or scrap metal licence

When the tax check is complete, a code will be issued. This code must be given to the council. The licence application or renewal will not be processed until the tax check is completed and the code provided.

The council will not have access to any information about tax details, they will only receive confirmation from HMRC that the tax check is completed.

More information about the tax check can be found at:

All new applicants for the licences mentioned above will be required to confirm they are aware of the content of HMRC guidance relating to tax registration obligations:

if you’re an employee, find information on Pay As You Earn (PAYE)
if you’re self-employed, find information on registering for Self Assessment
if you operate through a company, find information on Corporation Tax

Applying for a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle licence

If you would like to licence a vehicle as either a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle, the vehicle must meet the requirements of the standard MOT test as well as additional measures laid down by the council and set out in our Manual of Inspection Standards. There are a number of conditions attached to vehicle licences and these can be found in the guidance notes for new applicants:

Applying for a private hire operator's licence

A private hire vehicle can only be dispatched to a customer by a private hire operator. This is a person who holds an operator’s licence under Section 55 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 Part II.

There are a number of conditions to which an operator must adhere in order to retain his/her licence and these can be found in the guidance notes for new applicants:

Licence fees

Hackney carriage and private hire licence fees and charges

Hackney carriage (taxi) fare tariffs in the East Suffolk area
Hackney carriage (taxi) fare tariff - South	Hackney carriage (taxi) fare tariff - North

Public registers of hackney carriage (taxi) and private hire licences

The public register of licences has been divided into North and South areas. These areas reflect the former licensing authority districts.

Public registers of hackney carriage (taxi) and private hire licences in the East Suffolk area
East Suffolk South hackney carriage (taxi) and private hire licence register	East Suffolk North hackney carriage (taxi) and private hire licence register

Wheelchair accessible licensed vehicles

Section 165 of the Equality Act 2010 requires the drivers of those vehicles contained in a list published by local authorities under section 167, to carry passengers in wheelchairs, provide assistance to those passengers, and prohibits them from charging extra.

Listing of Wheelchair accessible licensed vehicles and drivers
Wheelchair accessible licensed vehicles and drivers

Rickshaws

Auto-Rickshaws or Tuk-Tuks are motorised (electric motor or traditional internal combustion) typically with three wheels, designed for various uses one of which being for the purpose of carrying fare paying passengers - normally two or three although larger vehicles can carry up to six passengers.

Cycle-Rickshaws or Pedicabs, are pedal powered cycles (sometimes electrically assisted) with typically three or four wheels, used for the purpose of carrying fare paying passengers - normally two.

Both categories of vehicle, motorised or un-motorised, used to transport passengers on a ‘hire and reward’ basis require regulation.

Rickshaw driver licence application form - Adobe PDF format | Microsoft Word format
Rickshaw vehicle licence application form - Adobe PDF format | Microsoft Word format
Rickshaw hackney carriage fees
Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy

Horsedrawn carriages

Horsedrawn carriage driver licence application form - Adobe PDF format| Microsoft Word format
Application (Renewal) for a horsedrawn carriage licence - Adobe PDF format | Microsoft Word format
Horsedrawn carriage drivers licence conditions
Horsedrawn carriage licence conditions

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