RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
East Suffolk
East Suffolk Council · Sources checked 13 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
The current council business portal links taxi and private-hire licensing. Its official guidance describes enhanced DBS and Update Service registration, medical assessment, right-to-work evidence and pre-application literacy/numeracy testing, but the guidance document date was not established; reconfirm every requirement before applying.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official route/source found
Use the East Suffolk taxi and private-hire licensing route in the current business portal for vehicle applications. Detailed vehicle standards in the linked policy must be reconfirmed because the document's present adoption date was not established.
- Operator licensing
- Official route/source found
The current council portal routes users to taxi/private-hire licensing. The linked policy covers operator licensing, but applicants should obtain the present form, premises requirements and record-keeping checklist directly from Licensing.
- Licensing fees
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
Current council page checked 13 September 2026 lists driver pre-application test £35, initial application £200 and three-year licence/badge £300 as separate lines; DBS £49.50 and replacement badge £6. Annual PH vehicle £257, electric/hybrid £192, disability vehicle £128; HC £302/£226/£151 respectively. Operator five-year fees are £400 for 2–5 cars and £900 above five. Owner-driver amount is misformatted as £3.0500 and withheld. Medical and college courses are provider-priced. No effective date is printed.
- Taxi tariff
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
Official cards retain separate zones. North October 2022: daytime 07:00–23:00 £4 for 880 yards/316.8 seconds, then 20p per 125 yards/45 seconds; night £4.40 for 700 yards/198 seconds then 20p per 106 yards/30 seconds; festive £7 for 1,260 yards/252 seconds then 20p per 100 yards/20 seconds, with combined time/distance parts. North adds 80p per passenger beyond four and £60 soiling. South February 2024 prints initial amounts '3.80p'/'4.50p' (currency typo unresolved), includes 700 yards, then 20p per 200/180 yards or 25 seconds; day 05:30–22:30. South has bank-holiday/eve +50%, named festive +100%, 30p additional passenger beyond three/luggage use, and £75 maximum soiling.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
The official policy is dated September 2021, resolving its previously unknown document date. It requires a pre-application reading/writing/arithmetic test, 12 months' full DVLA entitlement, enhanced DBS and continuous Update Service subscription, and Group 2 medical evidence. Medicals repeat at 45, 50, 55, 60 and 65, then annually; valid Group 2 licence holders need no additional medical information under this dated policy. Both licence classes undertake a driving assessment including licensing-law knowledge; hackney applicants additionally take a shortest-route geography test. All new applicants complete the safeguarding online module and provide its pass certificate. The policy names an individual driving examiner, whose current appointment has not been reconfirmed. A later consultation proposes safeguarding/disability/CSE refresher training during the three months before renewal, but no final operative decision has been verified here; it is not presented as an adopted obligation.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- Current policy adoption/version date not established.
- Current fees, exact vehicle/operator requirements and adopted tariff zones not verified.
- Owner-driver operator fee malformed; temporary-plate £96 conflicts with printed £77+£16 components; neither silently corrected. Driver renewal not separately identified. Preserve partial status.
- Preserve prior verified fields.
- September 2021 version date now confirmed; current adoption/latest amendments, examiner appointment and proposed renewal-training implementation remain unresolved.
- South initial amount currency is printed ambiguously; not silently normalised.
- Full holiday precedence and contemporary hub linkage remain to verify; dated official cards are not proof of unchanged September 2026 rates.
- North and South zones must not be merged.