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Powys taxi fees frozen after drivers leave amid pandemic

Taxi licence fees in Powys will be frozen this financial year because of the impact of coronavirus.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s planning, taxi licensing and rights of way committee, councillors discussed a recommendation to keep the fees for the current financial year the same as in 2020/21.

Senior taxi licensing officer Sue Jones explained that the department had needed to adapt its practises because of the pandemic.

Many taxi drivers have either left the business or are waiting for better times before renewing their licenses, she said.

As of January 1, the report shows, there were 247 licences for private hire vehicles in Powys – 17 fewer than in October 2019. Similarly the number of Hackney Carriage Vehicles on January 1 was 117 compared to 164 on October 1, 2019.

Ms Jones said: “Normally I would present the report earlier in the year as new fees have to be advertised, and we’d go through a period of consultation. “But this report proposes leaving them as they are at the moment.”

Ms Jones explained that they usually base fee charges on the data from two years ago, and it would have been “likely” that they would have increased slightly this year if the pandemic had not occurred.

Consequently the fees based on 2020/21 data would have seen a drop.

Ms Jones said: “Obviously 12 months ago everything changed and we had to significantly adapt the processes last year.

“We had to temporarily stop compliance checks that we would have done throughout the year, but we will be picking those up again next month.”

Ms Jones pointed out that taxis had continued to be operated throughout the pandemic and the various lockdowns.

A review will take place later this year in time to implement any changes to fees from April 2022.

Cllr Phil Pritchard (Welshpool Castle – Independent), said: “The report is logical and makes common sense.”

He moved the motion to back the officers recommendation put to a vote , and it was backed unanimously by councillors.

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

Hackney carriage private hire (1 year) £148
Driver licence (3 years) £260
Driver licence (1 year) £150
Private Hire Operators (5 years) £405 Knowledge
Competency £40

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