Wychavon District Council’s licensing committee has agreed to go out to formal consultation on a 12.9% rise in maximum hackney carriage fares, after a request from the trade earlier this year. If the process clears, the new table would apply from 2 November.
Councillors met on 30 September. The proposed change would take a standard two-mile daytime (tariff one) journey to £7. Fares in the district have not gone up since 2022. The caps only bind hackney carriages that can be hailed or taken from a rank; pre-booked private hire prices are set by operators, not by this table.
What the new caps would look like
Under the proposal reported from the meeting, the initial hiring charge would rise from £4 to £4.52 on tariff one, from £5.10 to £5.76 on tariff two, and from £6.60 to £7.45 on tariff three.
The request originally came in May from Evesham firm KLA Taxis. That company has since said it is closing, citing falling demand, rising costs and competition from larger operators including Uber, according to a separate report in the Evesham Journal. Licensing officer Hazel Powell told members the application was made some time ago, the firm had not surrendered its licences, and officers had since surveyed the trade.
What drivers told the council
Powell said a June survey of hackney carriage drivers drew 24 responses. Fifty-eight percent backed the increase, but some drivers also warned about being “priced out of the market.” Fuel prices and the “cumulative cost of living” were among the factors put before the committee.
Members heard there are 42 licensed hackney carriages in Wychavon. Chair Chris Day said that was a “small fraction” once Uber and private hire vehicles were counted. Councillor John Clatworthy raised the number of Wolverhampton-licensed cars working in Evesham and asked whether local drivers risked losing income. Powell said officers were concerned but that out-of-area cars were operating legally and the council had little power to stop them.
By law, varying a hackney fare table under section 65 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 means publishing a public notice and inviting objections for at least 14 days. If objections come in, the committee must consider them before any new table takes effect.
Councillor Mark Goodge backed starting that consultation. The committee accepted the proposal unanimously. Until the process finishes, the current maximum fares remain in force.