Taxi Driver Online

Wrexham taxi drivers could be forced to pay more as part of revised licence fees

https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/18163 ... ence-fees/

TAXI drivers in Wrexham could soon be forced to pay more money to operate in the county borough.

Wrexham Council is proposing to increase licence fees for hackney carriages, which are also known as black cabs, and private hire vehicles.

It would see charges for new hackney carriage licences go up from £168 to £243, while renewals would increase from the same amount to £234.

Meanwhile, private vehicle operators would have to fork out £238 for a licence instead of £186 with renewals rising to £230.

The local authority is also looking to introduce administrative fees ranging from £20 to cover the cost of replacement plates up to £44 for drivers to change their registration number.

A senior official said the price hikes were being put forward to reflect the cost of staff time.

In a report, the council’s chief officer for planning and regulatory Lawrence Isted said: “The fees charged for vehicle licences for private hire vehicles and hackney carriage vehicles were last considered by the environment and licensing committee in April 2016.

“The processes have changed since they were last reviewed, the cost of officer time has not previously been accurately reflected, and departmental structures have also changed since they were last reviewed.

“A complete and thorough review has been undertaken which takes into account up to date staffing costs that include all associated overheads.

“The revised fees also include an element that reflects the costs of ensuring compliance, staff training, dealing with complaints and enquiries and responding to changes in legal requirements.

“The committee are invited to agree the proposed revised and new fees subject to a period of consultation.”

The proposals include plans to remove a discount of ten per cent currently applied to all wheelchair accessible vehicles.

Mr Isted said the cost of providing the reduction in fees was ‘significant’ and making taxis available to wheelchair users was now normal.

He added the suggested fees were lower than in other neighbouring areas.

The new charges will be considered by members of the council’s environmental licensing committee at a meeting on Monday, January 20.

If approved, a consultation lasting 28 days would be held to gauge the views of taxi operators.

Wrexham taxi licence fee hike could be dropped due to financial impact

A planned hike in taxi licence fees in Wrexham could be dropped amid concerns over the financial impact on drivers.

Councillors agreed to proposals to increase charges for black cab and private hire vehicle licences in January last year.

The move would have seen fees for new hackney carriage licences go up from £168 to £243, while renewals would have risen from the same amount to £234.

Meanwhile, private vehicle operators would have had to fork out £238 for a licence instead of £186, with renewals rising to £230.

However, the introduction of the changes was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Members of Wrexham Council's licensing committee are now being asked not to implement the news fees in light of the impact of the pandemic.

In response to a consultation held in March last year, one taxi company owner warned the uplift could lead to drivers leaving the industry.

The unnamed individual said: “I operate and own nine hackney vehicles along with 78 private hire vehicles and this increase is going to have a massive impact on my company.

“There will be no way of offloading these costs onto the drivers or the general public.

“If we were to try and offload the costs due to these new fees being implemented, I can see drivers leaving this industry, which at the moment is a very hard industry to keep afloat in Wrexham.

“Trying to recruit new drivers is also a massive hurdle and this will only make things worse.”

The council had also intended to introduce a £20 administrative fee to cover the cost of replacement vehicle plates or registering a change of address.

The local authority said it had missed out on approximately £30,000 through not increasing charges as planned.

But chief planning and regulatory officer Lawrence Isted said in a report said pushing ahead would have put more pressure on taxi drivers.

He said: “In the ordinary course of events the consultation responses would have been considered following the close of the consultation at the end of March 2020.

“If confirmed, the fee increases would have been implemented from around the beginning of July 2020.

“However, the pandemic has had a very significant adverse financial impact on the taxi trade and any increase in vehicle fees would have imposed further financial pressure.”

The assessment which led to the previous licence fee proposals was carried out nearly two years ago.

Mr Isted said a fresh review would need to be carried out to ensure full costs can be recovered in future.

The recommendations will be considered by licensing committee members when they meet on Monday (December 20, 2021).

Any further planned changes to licence charges will be presented to the committee following next year's local elections in May.

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