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Proposed Licensed Hackney Carriage (Taxi) Fares - March 2024

Have your say.

Consultation status Archived
Start date: 2024-03-21
End date: 2024-04-11
Results 2024-04-12
Category: Business and Jobs, Roads, Transport and Parking, Your West Berkshire, Consumer and Environmental Protection
Ward:

Activity closed. Results published.

Background

Under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 Section 65 Hackney Carriage Fares, we're undertaking a three-week statutory consultation prior to making any amendments to the Licensed Hackney Carriage (Taxi) fares. The proposal to amend the fares was discussed at the Licensing Committee on Monday, 8 January 2024 and the meeting of the Executive Committee on Thursday, 14 March 2024

 

The current fares which came into effect on the 19 June 2023 can be viewed on the Public Protection Partnership website.


What we are proposing

To make amendments to the Licensed Hackney Carriage (Taxi) fares. The proposed changes are as follows:

 CurrentProposed

Tariff 1

Any journey with 1-4 passengers

Applies for any hiring when journey commences between 06:00 and 21:59 Monday to Saturday (Excluding Bank Holidays, Public Holidays,24th,25th,26th,31st  December and 1st January)

For the first 1340.307 yards £5.00

For each subsequent 243.692yards 40p

Waiting time per hour £33.00

For the first 1276.5 yards or 231 seconds £5.00

For each subsequent 232.1 yards or 42 seconds 40p

Waiting time per hour £34.65

Tariff 4

Any journey with 5 or more passengers

Applies for any hiring when journey commences between 06:00 and 21:59 Monday to Saturday (Excluding Bank Holidays, Public Holidays,24th,25th,26th,31st  December and 1st January)

For the first 1340.307 yards £7.50

For each subsequent 243.692yards 60p

Waiting time per hour £49.50

For the first 1340.307 yards £7.50

For each subsequent 243.692yards 60p

Waiting time per hour £49.50

Tariff 2

Any journey with 1-4 passengers

Applies for any hiring when journey commences between 22:00 and 05:59 Monday to Saturday, 06.00 and 21.59 Sundays, bank holidays, and public holidays, between 06:00 and 23.59 on 24th,26th and 31st December.

For the first 1340.307 yards £7.50

For each subsequent 243.692yards 60p

Waiting time per hour £49.50

For the first 1276.5 yards or 231 seconds  £7.50

For each subsequent 232.1 yards or 42 seconds 60p

Waiting time per hour £51.98

Tariff 5

Any journey with 5 or more passengers

Applies for any hiring when journey commences between 22:00 and 05:59 Monday to Saturday, 06.00 and 21.59 Sundays, bank holidays, and public holidays, between 06:00 and 23.59 on 24th,26th and 31st December.

For the first 1340.307 yards £11.25

For each subsequent 243.692yards 90p

Waiting time per hour £74.25

For the first 1340.307 yards £11.25

For each subsequent 243.692yards 90p

Waiting time per hour £74.25

Tariff 3

Any journey with 1-4 passengers

Applies for any hiring hiring when the journey commences between: 00.00 and 23.59 on 25th December;

00.00 and 05:59 on 26th December;

00.00 and 05:59 on 1st January

For the first 1340.307 yards £10.00

For each subsequent 243.692yards 80p

Waiting time per hour £66.00

For the first 1276.5 yards or 231 seconds  £10.00

For each subsequent 232.1 yards or 42 seconds 80p

Waiting time per hour £69.30

Tariff 6

Any journey with 5 or more passengers

Applies for any hiring hiring when the journey commences between: 00.00 and 23.59 on 25th December;

00.00 and 05:59 on 26th December;

00.00 and 05:59 on 1st January

For the first 1489.235 yards or 264 seconds (whichever is reached first) £15.00

For each subsequent 135.385 yards or every 24 seconds (whichever is reached first) 60p

Waiting time per hour £90.00

For the first 1340.307 yards £15.00

For each subsequent 243.692 yards 120p

Waiting time per hour £99.00

Fouling Charges

Fouling charge to be retained and charged at: Interior - maximum £100

Exterior - maximum £25

Fouling will be charged at a maximum of (Interior T1/T4 £150, T2/T5 £225, T3/T6 £300)

(Exterior T1/T4 £50, T2/T5 £75, T3/T6 £100)

Payable to driver immediately.

Extra Charges

If a hackney carriage is booked by telephone, text, email or other electronic means a booking fee may be charged by prior arrangement only

Congestion Charge, Ultra Low Emission Zone, or any tolls will be applied for any journey where such charges or tolls are incurred. These charges would not appear on the meter.

If a Hackney Carriage is booked by telephone, e-mail, app or other electronic means a booking fee may be charged.

Congestion Zone Charges, Ulez, Tolls or similar will be applied for any journey where such charges or tolls are incurred.

Customers should be aware that these charges are the maximum to be charged, and any lesser fare agreed prior to commencement of the journey must still be applied.

Where the taxi is used for pre-booked journeys, "the fare or charge shall be calculated from the point in the district at which the hirer commences his journey." (Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 sec. 67)

 

Icon for pdf You can view or download the proposed Hackney Carriages Table of Fares for 2024 here [101KB]


Why we want your views

We're committed to balancing the legitimate aims of the taxi trade to maintain profitability in the face of increasing costs, while protecting the public from excessive fares. The issue of setting fares for hackney carriage drivers is an important one for two reasons: the fare set by licensing authority largely determines the ability of drivers to earn a decent living, but also aims to ensure that passengers receive a fair deal when taking a journey in a licensed hackney carriage. We'd therefore welcome your views in order to ensure that we are balancing these two objectives.


How to take part

If you'd like to comment on the proposed fares, you can do so by sending your views by email to PPPConsultations@westberks.gov.uk, or by post to Mrs Moira Fraser, Public Protection Partnership, Theale Library, Church Street, Theale, Berkshire RG7 5BZ. All representations must be received by us by 5pm on Thursday, 11 April 2024.

If you have any questions about the consultation, please contact PPPConsultations@westberks.gov.uk

 

For general enquiries about Taxi and private hire licences, please visit our webpage


What happens next

If no objections are received, or any such objections are subsequently withdrawn, the revised table of fares will come into operation from Friday, 12 April 2024.

If objections are received and not subsequently withdrawn, the matter will be discussed by elected Members at the Executive meeting on Thursday, 16 May 2024, who will make a decision on implementation. Should the Executive Committee approve implementation, the revised table of fares will then come into operation no later than Tuesday, 12 June 2024.

What you told us

We received 35 separate responses, 14 of which were from drivers, three from operators, eight from residents, nine from members of the Community Panel and one from an officer in the Home to School Transport Team. Some responses were a mixture of support or objections and additional comments. We have also received a separate response signed by 78 drivers from Cabco with 77 of those drivers indicating that they were not in favour of increasing the tariffs. Some of the respondents indicated that they did not want to see the tariffs increase, but would like to see the fouling charges increased.


In total 19 objections to the proposals have been received. 13 of these were from drivers, two from operators, one from an officer in the Home to School Transport Team and three from residents. Nine respondents supported the proposals, five of these were from members of the Community Panel, one from a resident, two from drivers and one from an operator. We received six comments specifically about the fouling charges (three from drivers, two from operators and one from a member of the Community Panel). Some supportive of the sliding scales and others not. 


You can view the full outcome report here.


What we did

As objections to the tariffs have been received and not withdrawn, the Executive is required to decide whether or not the revised table of fares should be modified before it is implemented and decide the date for implementation. The matter will be discussed by elected Members at the Executive meeting on the Thursday, 6 May 2024, who will make a decision on implementation. Should the Executive Committee approve implementation, the revised table of fares will then come into operation no later than Tuesday, 11 June 2024.

The outcome of the consultation will also be fed back to the Licensing Committee at their meeting on Monday, 8 July 2024.

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