Big rise in Newport taxi licensing fees is planned to cut £65,000 deficit
‘INCOME IS DOWN’: Newport taxi drivers and their managers say extra licensing charges are aimed at trying to enforce an age limit on vehicles
A RANGE of licence fees for taxi drivers could be set to rise under new city council proposals.
A Newport taxi driver could face paying more than £110 extra a year to licence cars more than three years old, while drivers of cars more than 12 years old could face vehicle licence fees of £458 a year. Newport licensing committee is set to decide on Tuesday whether the changes, aimed at recovering the cost of taxi licensing, will be put out for consultation.
But they have already been greeted with derision by figures within the city’s taxi trade. A council report written by principal licensing officer Alastair Dearling said the fees must be set at a level to recover the cost of licensing taxi services. He says the rises do not render the fees higher than neighbouring authorities. The cost of licensing a private hire or hackney carriage vehicle more than three years old for six months would rise to £129, and £229 for vehicles older than 12 years, he wrote. It currently costs £71 for private hire cars and £76 for hackney carriages for a six-month licence.
The report proposed vehicles over 12 years old will be inspected by a licensing officer before a licence is granted, “hence the higher cost of administrating the licence”.
Drivers of cars less than three years old will pay £129 a year – acting as an incentive to the trade to buy newer vehicles. Individual driver licence fees and private hire operators feeswould also rise.
In 2011/12 the service faced a deficit between income and costs of £65,333. Mr Dearling argued that, with the proposals, the deficit would drop to just £394. An increase of 5 per cent came into force at the start of 2012 but had not cut the deficit sufficiently, he said.
If the licensing committee agrees to put the proposals out to a 28-day consultation, the council plans to write to all members of the trade and hold a meeting with them.
If no objections are made, the fees will come into effect at the end of the consultation.
The report said Cabinet member for licensing Gail Giles supported the recommendations.
http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/g ... 0_deficit/
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