Licensing Committee minutes for Tuesday 18 August 2026 record that Redditch Borough Council adopted revised hackney carriage and private hire vehicle age limits with effect from 1 September 2026. The committee met at Oakenshaw Community Centre on Castleditch Lane. The extra year is for renewals, and does not apply to a vehicle being licensed for the first time.
The consultation
On Monday 9 March 2026 the committee directed officers to consult on adding one year to the renewal age limits. The survey ran from 20 April to 15 June 2026. It went to licence holders, borough councillors, relevant national trade bodies, Worcestershire County Council, West Mercia Police, the community safety team and parish councillors, and it was posted on the council's consultations page.
130 people responded. In the minutes, 83% supported the increase, and 108 of the 130 had identified themselves as licence holders. Members thought the sample was thin. The number in favour sat close to the number of licence holders, who had a financial interest in the extra year, and a wider public response might have looked different. They accepted that the replies in front of them were strongly in favour.
A table in the reports pack had percentages that added up to more than 100%. Officers assured members that the counts were accurate and that the fault was in the calculated percentages.
Members worried that a higher age could mean a poorer fleet, and accepted that condition often follows the owner rather than the year of the car. Six-monthly safety inspections were in place, with officers inspecting at Crossgates alongside the taxi engineers. The discussion also covered the cost pressure on licence holders and competition from other councils and from Uber. Raising the age limits was not expected to make a large difference, and further work would be needed, including from the future unitary authority, to keep and add licensed drivers.
Vehicles already over the limit
The information report for 9 March covered February 2023 to February 2026. In those three years the council considered 95 applications for vehicles outside the age policy, and refused nine. The Licensing Sub-Committee decided 63 of them and refused four. Officers decided 32 and refused five. The fleet then stood at 415 vehicles, 182 hackney carriages and 233 private hire vehicles.
Engineers at Crossgates emphasised that the limits were about right on average, and could be extended by another year, particularly for Euro 6 diesel and Euro 4 petrol, which make up most of the fleet. Make, model, mileage and upkeep also affect condition. A vehicle over the age limit can still be licensed if it is of an exceptional standard.
The 18 August report asked the committee to adopt a draft that adds one year in each renewal category. The minutes record that those revised limits were adopted.
Reports in October
PHTM wrote on Sunday 18 October 2026 that the council was still consulting on a higher maximum age, and that a Licensing Sub-Committee hearing had sat at 10.30am on Wednesday 14 October. The Redditch Standard carried the consultation as open that morning, and reported that the applications for the hearing had not been set out in the public papers.
That sub-committee deals with individual hackney carriage and private hire licences. No agenda for 14 October was among the published sub-committee papers. The age consultation had closed on 15 June, and the new renewal limits had applied since 1 September.
The council's taxi and private hire page still points readers to the consultation. The page gives the Town Hall at Walter Stranz Square as the council address.