Taxi fares could rise as license fees increase 8%

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

Taxi fares in Welshpool could rise next April after proposals were revealed to increase licence fees by eight per cent.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Planning, Taxi Licensing, and Rights of Way committee on Thursday, councillors received a report with proposals to increase the fees.

The proposal is subject to a month long consultation process with taxi drivers.

Fees are calculated using a “toolkit” devised by the All-Wales Licensing Expert Panel with assistance from the council’s finance team.

The report explains that for 2025/2025 the taxi licensing team predict the eight per cent hike will see an increase of £6,300.

Licensing  team manager Natalie Jones said that this was to cost recovery of processing and administering the taxi licensing regime and: “not for profit.”

Ms Jones said: “Cost prices between local authorities vary for a number of reasons such as the number of staff employed and their pay level at various stages of the process.”

She added that materials, supplier costs and the number of licences administered also differ across Wales.

Ms Jones said: “The fees for next year are based on last year’s (2023/2024) costs.

“We are confident that the fees we are proposing are fair and accurate and would stand up to any scrutiny.”

Cllr Gareth E Jones asked what would happen if the department made more or less money than the expected £6300 next year.

Cllr Jones said: “This is the best estimate, do you check at the end of the year.”

Ms Jones said: “This is all based on what’s already happened.

“If there was a discrepancy we would have to incorporate it into the fees for the following year.”

Cllr Jones proposed that the committee accept the report and councillors voted unanimously to start the process with the month long consultation.

Following the consultation a report will come back to the committee before the decision is implemented.

The fees for 2025/2026 which don’t include the cost for DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks are:

Hackney carriage private hire (1 year):  £155 –  going up from £150 this year.
Driver licence (3 years): £300 0 going up from £284 this year.
Private Hire Operators (5 years): £357 –  going up from £355 this year.
Knowledge test: £45 – up from £40 this year.

Driver licence figures are still below the levels from before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The current number of licences are:

Driver licences – 502 – up from 475 last year
Private Hire Operators – 65 – down from 67 last year
Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Vehicles – 420 – up from 408 last year.