RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
Birmingham
Birmingham City Council · Sources checked 13 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official route/source found
Driver licences normally last three years. Applicants need two years' full driving entitlement, DVLA check, enhanced DBS with barred-list checks and Update Service subscription, applicable overseas evidence, Group2 medical and tax-compliance evidence. Renew before expiry; otherwise a new application and relevant tests are required.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official route/source found
The currently served application page requires new private-hire vehicles to be younger than eight years at submission; imported vehicles use their earlier original-country registration date. Ask the insurer to send insurance directly to licensing. New hackney vehicles not made by LTI/LEVC require a conformity certificate. Submit the relevant new/transfer form and attachments by email. The page is dated September2023; full current emissions and model eligibility still need confirmation.
- Operator licensing
- Official route/source found
Private hire operator licences last five years and require premises within Birmingham. Applicants disclose relevant convictions, provide a basic DBS and give previous private-hire licensing history. Obtain planning permission or planning confirmation that permission is unnecessary. Public liability insurance for the premises is required, with employers' liability cover where applicable. Keep journey, vehicle and driver records including callsigns. Renew at least 14 days before expiry with the complete paperwork. Notify licensing when fleet growth moves the operation into a new fee bracket.
- Licensing fees
- Official route/source found
Published 2026 charges include a three-year hackney or private-hire driver grant at £277; hackney vehicle grant £159; private-hire vehicle grant £196; and small private-hire operator grants of £501 for one year or £1,329 for five years. Separate test and replacement charges also apply.
- Taxi tariff
- Official route/source found
Current-linked official card dated 1 April 2025. Tariff 1 starts £3.20 for 187.5 yards, then 20p per 125 yards until 1,062.5 yards total, subsequently 20p per 172.5 yards; waiting 20p per 38.7 seconds. Tariff 2 starts £3.20 for 180.5 yards, then 20p per 90.3 yards until 632 yards total, subsequently 20p per 152.4 yards; waiting 20p per 36 seconds. Tariff 3 starts £4.20 for 220 yards, then 30p per 110 yards until 770 yards total, subsequently 30p per 172 yards; waiting 30p per 45 seconds. Tariff 2 covers Friday/Saturday nights 22:00–07:00, Boxing Day and festive eves 18:00–midnight; tariff 3 Christmas Day and New Year's Day until07:00; tariff1 otherwise.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official route/source found
New drivers must pass the approved driving assessment, disability/safeguarding training and either the hackney knowledge test or private hire suitability test. Switching from private hire to dual licensing requires the additional applicable tests.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- Current application steps, detailed eligibility, vehicle standards, fare table and mandatory qualification evidence were not verified in this batch.
- Enrichment only. Current page successfully fetched using Node despite web403. Do not treat this as exhaustive current vehicle policy; operator documents remain to extract.
- Preserve prior verified fields. Complete operator conditions are in the linked policy, including signage, staffing, records and complaints obligations; this is a substantive application summary, not an exhaustive reproduction. Numeric operator fees were not reverified in this enrichment.
- Preserve existing vehicle/operator/fee fields. Current policy links were verified. Specific right-to-work document examples in this older policy should be checked against current Home Office evidence rules rather than reproduced as sufficient proof. Medical frequency/provider details not included in this short summary.
- Exact pulse rounding and any additional charges require adapter-level review before calculator activation.