URL: https://democracy.dacorum.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=2623

Decision Maker: Portfolio Holder for Corporate & Commercial Services

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: No

Purpose: Background to report:   The Dacorum Taxi Association acting for its members requested that the Tariffs for licensed Hackney Carriages be reviewed as they were last renewed in 2022.   There are currently three Tariffs: Tariff ONE - A Standard Day Rate. Tariff TWO - A Night, Sunday and Bank Holiday Rate. Tariff THREE – A Christmas / New Year Rate.   This structure is not easily understood, particularly tariff three, and needs to be simplified.   The Association requested that the tariffs be reviewed as operational costs have increased and there has not been a review since 2022. They asked that two main points in particular be considered for review:   The nighttime rate does not reflect a reasonable uplift over the daytime rate for working unsocial hours. For example: £3.50 became £4.20 which is far short of the standard 1.3 or 1.5 unsociable hours rate commonly found in other sectors.   The introduction of a new Tariff for multi-seater vehicles between 5-8 seats. Dacorum currently only allow a single charge no matter how many passengers are carried. So, for an example 8 people could get a taxi to Watford in a people carrier vehicle for the same price as a single 4 seater. Prior to the introduction of the 7-8 seaters the same journey would require two cars and two fares. Many authorities do have another Tariff for 5-8 seats, including our two closest neighbours: Watford and St Albans.   Please see comparison below, using Tariff 1.   Taxi Comparison - Costs of a 1 mile journey on Tariff 1 (1 mile – 1760 yards)   DBC Current DBC Proposed WATFORD ST ALBANS 440 yards = £3.50 (quarter mile) 440 yards = £3.80 (quarter mile) 120 yards = £2.20 (approx. 0.07 mile) 880 yards = £3.90 (half mile) Then 1320 yards divided by 220 yards = 6 @ 30p = £1.80   Then 1320 yards divided by 220 yards =6 @0.37p = £2.22 Then 840 yards divided by 70 yards = 12 @ 20p   = £2.40 Then 800 yards divided 140 yards = 5.71 @ 20p = £1.14 Then 880 yards divided by 76.52 yards = 11.5 @ 15p = £1.72   £5.30   £6.02 £5.74   £5.62                     Proposals and decision made:   Following the review the following tariff structure is proposed:   Tariff One - Fare for carrying 1-4 passengers (standard day rate) For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:- £3.80 For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:- £0.35 Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or part thereof:- £0.35 Tariff Two - Fare for carrying 1-4 passengers (Night, Sunday, Bank Holiday) For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:- £5.00 For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:- £0.45 Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or part thereof:- £0.45 Tariff Three - Fare for carrying 5-8 passengers (standard day rate) For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:- £5.70 For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:- £0.50 Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or part thereof:- £0.50 Tariff Four - Fare for carrying 5-8 passengers (Night, Sunday, Bank Holiday) For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:- £7.50 For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:- £0.70 Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or part thereof:- £0.70 Tariff’s Two and Four Applies to journeys starting: Between 11pm and 7am on any day | Between 7am and 11pm on Sundays | On any official Bank Holiday | Or between 6pm and midnight on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve Extra Charges ‘On 24th December and 31st December after 23:00 and on 25th December and January 1st until midnight, Drivers will charge double the fare shown on the meter’.Soiling requiring the vehicle to be taken out of service for cleaning:-            £80.00 The passenger(s) shall be liable for any additional tolls, charges, tariffs, or city centre congestion charges including the Central London congestion charge   Enquiries regarding any property accidentally left in a hackney carriage should be made to: www.dacorum.gov.uk/taxi-lost-property     The key points in summary of the changes in the Tariff proposal are:   An increase of 30p on the starting day rate An increase of 80p on the starting night rate (approx. x 1.5)   An increase of 5p on the subsequent 220 yard or 45 seconds daytime An increase of 8p on the subsequent 220 yard or 45 seconds nighttime   Two new tariffs that covered 5-8 seats for daytime and nighttime hires. This was estimated to be approximately 1.5 x the standard rates for 1-4 seats.   The soiling charge was increased by £20.   The Christmas and New Year issues previously mentioned on the 2022 rate card are resolved by a pragmatic approach of simply doubling what is shown on the meter for the appropriate journey according to the vehicle size and time at hire. This is an approach taken by many other authorities including Watford and would seem a fair and balanced charging structure.   In accordance with section 65 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 on the 9th June 2025 an advertisement was placed in the local media to be published from Wednesday 11th June 2025 for 14 days. A notice advertising the fare change with an example of the proposed Tariffs was also placed in the front window at The Forum with the other displayed notices. After the 14 day consultation 4 objections were received. The reasons against the proposed provisions are attached as Annex F. This is the second time a taxi tariff increase has been proposed in the last year. Due to issues concerning the implementation of the previous proposal, a fresh consultation has taken place with the revised tariff above and this report is based on the results of this new consultation only.   The last Tariff change was in May 2022 and the previous one before then was from February 2018. On that basis a new review is due and was welcomed warmly on the previous consultation, with 101 drivers agreeing with the proposal.   Other authorities also have a structure like this proposal, and the tariffs proposed are comparative to Watford and St Albans council as highlighted in the table above.     Reports considered: Annex A The 2022 rate card Annex B Benchmarking document Annex C New Tariff Rates Annex D James Button on Taxi’s handbook Annex E Advert in Local Media Annex F – Objections received   Officers/Councillors/Ward Councillors/Stakeholders consulted: All licensed hackney carriage and dual drivers. This proposal is now presented to the Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Contracted Services.     Monitoring Officer comments:   Statutory consultation with the licensed taxi trade and the public has been undertaken. The decision take into account the representations received. The revised fare table must be published in accordance with statutory requirements to ensure transparency and enforceability.         Deputy Chief Financial Officer comments:   The decision will bear no risk to the MTFS, the one-off costs will be met from existing budgets.       Financial Implications: Minimal. There are costs associated with publication of the statutory consultation which have been met within existing service budgets. A DBC car park will be used for the meter calibration day. Costs to drivers is £20-£25 to have their meter updated.   Risk: Some customers may not be favourable of the increase and seek alternative methods of transport, however it is anticipated this is a very low risk as only one member of the public objected to the rise.   Value for money: The proposed tariff is in line with neighbouring authorities and reaches an appropriate balance between allowing drivers to make a reasonable income whilst ensuring that fees remain reasonable for passengers.   Options considered and reasons for rejection:   Do nothing - The Tariff remains as it stands from the last review in 2022. This would not address the issues raised by the Taxi Association and would not be in line with neighbouring Councils.   

Content: Background to report:   The Dacorum Taxi Association acting for its members requested that the Tariffs for licensed Hackney Carriages be reviewed as they were last renewed in 2022.   There are currently three Tariffs: Tariff ONE - A Standard Day Rate. Tariff TWO - A Night, Sunday and Bank Holiday Rate. Tariff THREE – A Christmas / New Year Rate.   This structure is not easily understood, particularly tariff three, and needs to be simplified.   The Association requested that the tariffs be reviewed as operational costs have increased and there has not been a review since 2022. They asked that two main points in particular be considered for review:   The nighttime rate does not reflect a reasonable uplift over the daytime rate for working unsocial hours. For example: £3.50 became £4.20 which is far short of the standard 1.3 or 1.5 unsociable hours rate commonly found in other sectors.   The introduction of a new Tariff for multi-seater vehicles between 5-8 seats. Dacorum currently only allow a single charge no matter how many passengers are carried. So, for an example 8 people could get a taxi to Watford in a people carrier vehicle for the same price as a single 4 seater. Prior to the introduction of the 7-8 seaters the same journey would require two cars and two fares. Many authorities do have another Tariff for 5-8 seats, including our two closest neighbours: Watford and St Albans.   Please see comparison below, using Tariff 1.   Taxi Comparison - Costs of a 1 mile journey on Tariff 1 (1 mile – 1760 yards)   DBC Current DBC Proposed WATFORD ST ALBANS 440 yards = £3.50 (quarter mile) 440 yards = £3.80 (quarter mile) 120 yards = £2.20 (approx. 0.07 mile) 880 yards = £3.90 (half mile) Then 1320 yards divided by 220 yards = 6 @ 30p = £1.80   Then 1320 yards divided by 220 yards =6 @0.37p = £2.22 Then 840 yards divided by 70 yards = 12 @ 20p   = £2.40 Then 800 yards divided 140 yards = 5.71 @ 20p = £1.14 Then 880 yards divided by 76.52 yards = 11.5 @ 15p = £1.72   £5.30   £6.02 £5.74   £5.62                     Proposals and decision made:   Following the review the following tariff structure is proposed:   Tariff One - Fare for carrying 1-4 passengers (standard day rate) For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:- £3.80 For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:- £0.35 Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or part thereof:- £0.35 Tariff Two - Fare for carrying 1-4 passengers (Night, Sunday, Bank Holiday) For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:- £5.00 For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:- £0.45 Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or part thereof:- £0.45 Tariff Three - Fare for carrying 5-8 passengers (standard day rate) For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:- £5.70 For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:- £0.50 Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or part thereof:- £0.50 Tariff Four - Fare for carrying 5-8 passengers (Night, Sunday, Bank Holiday) For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:- £7.50 For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:- £0.70 Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or part thereof:- £0.70 Tariff’s Two and Four Applies to journeys starting: Between 11pm and 7am on any day | Between 7am and 11pm on Sundays | On any official Bank Holiday | Or between 6pm and midnight on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve Extra Charges ‘On 24th December and 31st December after 23:00 and on 25th December and January 1st until midnight, Drivers will charge double the fare shown on the meter’.Soiling requiring the vehicle to be taken out of service for cleaning:-            £80.00 The passenger(s) shall be liable for any additional tolls, charges, tariffs, or city centre congestion charges including the Central London congestion charge   Enquiries regarding any property accidentally left in a hackney carriage should be made to: www.dacorum.gov.uk/taxi-lost-property     The key points in summary of the changes in the Tariff proposal are:   An increase of 30p on the starting day rate An increase of 80p on the starting night rate (approx. x 1.5)   An increase of 5p on the subsequent 220 yard or 45 seconds daytime An increase of 8p on the subsequent 220 yard or 45 seconds nighttime   Two new tariffs that covered 5-8 seats for daytime and nighttime hires. This was estimated to be approximately 1.5 x the standard rates for 1-4 seats.   The soiling charge was increased by £20.   The Christmas and New Year issues previously mentioned on the 2022 rate card are resolved by a pragmatic approach of simply doubling what is shown on the meter for the appropriate journey according to the vehicle size and time at hire. This is an approach taken by many other authorities including Watford and would seem a fair and balanced charging structure.   In accordance with section 65 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 on the 9th June 2025 an advertisement was placed in the local media to be published from Wednesday 11th June 2025 for 14 days. A notice advertising the fare change with an example of the proposed Tariffs was also placed in the front window at The Forum with the other displayed notices. After the 14 day consultation 4 objections were received. The reasons against the proposed provisions are attached as Annex F. This is the second time a taxi tariff increase has been proposed in the last year. Due to issues concerning the implementation of the previous proposal, a fresh consultation has taken place with the revised tariff above and this report is based on the results of this new consultation only.   The last Tariff change was in May 2022 and the previous one before then was from February 2018. On that basis a new review is due and was welcomed warmly on the previous consultation, with 101 drivers agreeing with the proposal.   Other authorities also have a structure like this proposal, and the tariffs proposed are comparative to Watford and St Albans council as highlighted in the table above.     Reports considered: Annex A The 2022 rate card Annex B Benchmarking document Annex C New Tariff Rates Annex D James Button on Taxi’s handbook Annex E Advert in Local Media Annex F – Objections received   Officers/Councillors/Ward Councillors/Stakeholders consulted: All licensed hackney carriage and dual drivers. This proposal is now presented to the Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Contracted Services.     Monitoring Officer comments:   Statutory consultation with the licensed taxi trade and the public has been undertaken. The decision take into account the representations received. The revised fare table must be published in accordance with statutory requirements to ensure transparency and enforceability.         Deputy Chief Financial Officer comments:   The decision will bear no risk to the MTFS, the one-off costs will be met from existing budgets.       Financial Implications: Minimal. There are costs associated with publication of the statutory consultation which have been met within existing service budgets. A DBC car park will be used for the meter calibration day. Costs to drivers is £20-£25 to have their meter updated.   Risk: Some customers may not be favourable of the increase and seek alternative methods of transport, however it is anticipated this is a very low risk as only one member of the public objected to the rise.   Value for money: The proposed tariff is in line with neighbouring authorities and reaches an appropriate balance between allowing drivers to make a reasonable income whilst ensuring that fees remain reasonable for passengers.   Options considered and reasons for rejection:   Do nothing - The Tariff remains as it stands from the last review in 2022. This would not address the issues raised by the Taxi Association and would not be in line with neighbouring Councils.    Background to report: The Dacorum Taxi Association acting for its members requested that the Tariffs for licensed Hackney Carriages be reviewed as they were last renewed in 2022.   There are currently three Tariffs: Tariff ONE - A Standard Day Rate. Tariff TWO - A Night, Sunday and Bank Holiday Rate. Tariff THREE – A Christmas / New Year Rate.   This structure is not easily understood, particularly tariff three, and needs to be simplified.   The Association requested that the tariffs be reviewed as operational costs have increased and there has not been a review since 2022. They asked that two main points in particular be considered for review:   The nighttime rate does not reflect a reasonable uplift over the daytime rate for working unsocial hours. For example: £3.50 became £4.20 which is far short of the standard 1.3 or 1.5 unsociable hours rate commonly found in other sectors.   The introduction of a new Tariff for multi-seater vehicles between 5-8 seats. Dacorum currently only allow a single charge no matter how many passengers are carried. So, for an example 8 people could get a taxi to Watford in a people carrier vehicle for the same price as a single 4 seater. Prior to the introduction of the 7-8 seaters the same journey would require two cars and two fares. Many authorities do have another Tariff for 5-8 seats, including our two closest neighbours: Watford and St Albans.   Please see comparison below, using Tarriff 1.   Taxi Comparison - Costs of a 1 mile journey on Tariff 1 (1 mile – 1760 yards)   DBC Current DBC Proposed WATFORD ST ALBANS 440 yards = £3.50 (quarter mile) 440 yards = £3.80 (quarter mile) 120 yards = £2.20 (approx. 0.07 mile) 880 yards = £3.90 (half mile) Then 1320 yards divided by 220 yards = 6 @ 30p = £1.80   Then 1320 yards divided by 220 yards =6 @0.37p = £2.22 Then 840 yards divided by 70 yards = 12 @ 20p   = £2.40 Then 800 yards divided 140 yards = 5.71 @ 20p = £1.14 Then 880 yards divided by 76.52 yards = 11.5 @ 15p = £1.72   £5.30   £6.02 £5.74   £5.62                     Proposals and decision made:   Following the review the following tariff structure is proposed:   Tariff One - Fare for carrying 1-4 passengers (standard day rate) For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:- £3.80 For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:- £0.35 Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or part thereof:- £0.35 Tariff Two - Fare for carrying 1-4 passengers (Night, Sunday, Bank Holiday) For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:- £5.00 For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:- £0.45 Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or part thereof:- £0.45 Tariff Three - Fare for carrying 5-8 passengers (standard day rate) For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:- £5.70 For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:- £0.50 Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or part thereof:- £0.50 Tariff Four - Fare for carrying 5-8 passengers (Night, Sunday, Bank Holiday) For the whole distance of 440 yards (~402.3 m) or part thereof:- £7.50 For each subsequent 220 yards (~201.2 m) or part thereof:- £0.70 Waiting time for each period of 45 seconds or part thereof:- £0.70 Tariff’s Two and Four Applies to journeys starting: Between 11pm and 7am on any day | Between 7am and 11pm on Sundays | On any official Bank Holiday | Or between 6pm and midnight on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve Extra Charges ‘On 24th December and 31st December after 23:00 and on 25th December and January 1st until midnight, Drivers will charge double the fare shown on the meter’.Soiling requiring the vehicle to be taken out of service for cleaning:-            £80.00 The passenger(s) shall be liable for any additional tolls, charges, tariffs, or city centre congestion charges including the Central London congestion charge   Enquiries regarding any property accidentally left in a hackney carriage should be made to: www.dacorum.gov.uk/taxi-lost-property     The key points in summary of the changes in the Tariff proposal are:   An increase of 30p on the starting day rate An increase of 80p on the starting night rate (approx. x 1.5)   An increase of 5p on the subsequent 220 yard or 45 seconds daytime An increase of 8p on the subsequent 220 yard or 45 seconds nighttime   Two new tariffs that covered 5-8 seats for daytime and nighttime hires. This was estimated to be approximately 1.5 x the standard rates for 1-4 seats.   The soiling charge was increased by £20.   The Christmas and New Year issues previously mentioned on the 2022 rate card are resolved by a pragmatic approach of simply doubling what is shown on the meter for the appropriate journey according to the vehicle size and time at hire. This is an approach taken by many other authorities including Watford and would seem a fair and balanced charging structure.   In accordance with section 65 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 on the 9th June 2025 an advertisement was placed in the local media to be published from Wednesday 11th June 2025 for 14 days. A notice advertising the fare change with an example of the proposed Tariffs was also placed in the front window at The Forum with the other displayed notices.  

Date of Decision: May 12, 2026