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County Durham taxi and private-hire licensing

This guide publishes only fields supported by the cited official sources. Anything unresolved is visibly withheld rather than inferred.

RESEARCHED AUTHORITY

County Durham

Durham County Council · Sources checked 13 September 2026

Driver licensing
Official route/source found

Policy has distinct sections for drivers, vehicle licence holders, private hire operators, licence fees and hackney carriage fares. Records changes to locality testing and vehicle emissions policy.

Vehicle licensing
Official route/source found

Policy has distinct sections for drivers, vehicle licence holders, private hire operators, licence fees and hackney carriage fares. Records changes to locality testing and vehicle emissions policy.

Operator licensing
Official route/source found

Policy has distinct sections for drivers, vehicle licence holders, private hire operators, licence fees and hackney carriage fares. Records changes to locality testing and vehicle emissions policy.

Licensing fees
Official evidence found; detail still to confirm

Current application pages checked 13 September 2026: HC or PH driver new/renewal £86 one year, £149 two years, £212 three years; joint HC/PH £119/£212/£296 respectively. Annual HC/PH vehicle licence £252 plus £65.24 per inspection: the page gives two tests below ten years (£382.48 total), three above ten (£447.72). Exactly ten years is not explicitly assigned by its wording; confirm with licensing. Operator fees have not yet been recovered. The application pages do not print fee commencement dates.

Taxi tariff
Official route/source found

Current-linked card (September 2023 metadata; no legal commencement inferred) has six bands. Up to four passengers: £4.90 first 1,760 yards/480 seconds then 20p per 146.66 yards, waiting 20p/40s; night/Sunday/bank-holiday £6.30 first mile/495 seconds then 30p/160 yards, waiting 30p/45s; festive £8.80 first mile/440 seconds then 40p/160 yards, waiting 40p/40s. Five-plus passengers: £4/£5.40/£5.50 first 10 yards/10 seconds, then 30p/160 yards, 40p/160 yards or 50p/125.7 yards respectively. Waiting is 30p/45s, 40p/40s or 50p/50s. Nights run 22:00–07:00; festive runs December 24 18:00–27 07:00 and December 31 18:00–January 2 07:00. Extras: luggage 50p, animal £2, bicycle £5, actual tolls, soiling £200.

Mandatory qualifications
Official route/source found

All applicants need the council knowledge test and driver-assessment pass certificates, CSE-awareness and disability-awareness training, enhanced DBS and a medical questionnaire completed by a doctor with full medical-record access. A full UK or equivalent driving licence must have been held for at least twelve months. The current page expressly removes the locality test for private hire drivers while retaining it for hackney carriage drivers; private hire applicants instead undertake oral English proficiency within the knowledge test. CSE and disability-awareness refresher training is required every three years for existing drivers. The disability-provider list includes Learning Curve, Blue Lamp Trust, Green Penny, Equo and JD Training. Immigration, driving-history and relevant tax checks also apply.

Withheld or still needing confirmation
  • No current public application-fee schedule verified.
  • No current numeric hackney carriage tariff verified.
  • Operator fee missing; exact ten-year vehicle test boundary and operative date require confirmation.
  • Initial time/distance allowance and extra-charge exemptions require calculator review; do not infer commencement from file metadata.

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