Fareham Borough Council's Overview and Scrutiny Board met on Monday 26 October 2026 in the Collingwood Room at the Civic Offices. Members considered the General Fund revenue monitoring report for the first half of 2026/27, to 30 September. General Fund monitoring report
Every committee and portfolio is under budget at the halfway point, except Streetscene. The Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Committee is showing a large underspend because of increased income from taxi licensing.
The committee's budget for the year is £664,500. The budget to 30 September was £70,700 and net spending was £20,926, a variation of £49,774 under budget. These are net figures, so extra fee income reduces the net cost. The report gives no separate total for taxi licensing income alone. Across the council, service budgets are £328,648 under at the same date.
What the board was told
Neil Wood, head of management finance, audit and revenues, told the board that hackney carriage licence income is well above budget, that a consultation on reducing some of the licensing criteria is under way, and that officers hope it will bring application numbers down. Daily Echo report
"Another area where we have an awful lot of income is in the Hackney carriage licences, and we are well above budget on that.
"While this is positive, it is causing some issues in the team with the number of applications that are coming through.
"It is good news on the income side, but from the staffing side it just means that the service is really, really busy."
The wait for a licence
The council's taxi and private hire licensing page says it is seeing unprecedented demand for applications. The average time to complete an application is about six to seven months. Anyone who wants a quicker decision is advised to apply to another licensing authority. A consultation on changes to the policy closes on 20 November 2026. Taxi and private hire licensing