RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
Epping Forest
Epping Forest Council · Sources checked 13 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official route/source found
Request an application pack from licensing. Driver licences are issued for three years and DBS checks apply.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official route/source found
Hackney vehicle licences last12 months and require mechanical examination at Oakwood Hill before grant and subsequent checks specified by conditions.
- Operator licensing
- Official route/source found
Current HTML states operator licences lastfive years. An older linked private-hire guide says12 months; the conflict is retained and old duration not used.
- Licensing fees
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
The council's MOT centre currently quotes £54.85 for a Class IV taxi/private hire vehicle up to eight seats and £12.60 for a taxi meter test. Retesting is free when the original test was at that centre and the retest is within ten working days. These are testing charges only, not licence application fees. A current adopted driver/vehicle/operator licence fee schedule has not been verified in this review.
- Taxi tariff
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
The April 2025 review reproduces the adopted tariff effective 28 February 2024 and recommends no increase. First-mile charges are £4.50/£4.70/£5.10/£6.50 for rates 1–4, followed by 30p/40p/50p/60p per started 176 yards. Waiting is 30p per started 40 seconds across all bands. Daytime rate is Monday–Saturday 06:00–22:00; night/Sunday/bank-holiday and festive rates apply. Higher occupancy substitutes higher bands; soiling up to £80, assistance and other dogs no extra charge.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
The council's currently linked guidance requires three years' full UK/EEA driving entitlement, enhanced DBS and medical evidence, and a council knowledge test before issuing a driver licence. Fitness includes district and Highway Code knowledge, understanding safeguarding requirements, and reasonable spoken English. It explicitly requires significant topographical knowledge and a pass in the council test. The file sits under a 2020 upload path and does not establish a current approved safeguarding course, practical-assessment scheme or refresher timetable; this summary is deliberately partial rather than treating the guidance link as proof of a complete modern training package. Current taxi hub still links class-specific guidance revised January 2017 (hackney) and May 2016 (private hire). Hackney clause 33 expressly requires safeguarding training as determined by the council, plus council-provided safeguarding information in the vehicle. Private-hire clause 34 in the separate published document requires the information but does not repeat the training wording. This documentary difference is not treated as a private-hire exemption or a universal refresher schedule.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- Full detailed policy, qualifications, fees and numeric fares outstanding.
- 2025–26 draft budget fee appendix exists but cannot establish current 2026–27 licence charges; do not substitute testing fees for licence costs.
- Preserve prior verified fields.
- Current safeguarding course, disability training, practical assessment and renewal intervals require confirmation; older upload remains linked but publication/adoption date not established.
- Current linkage of older class-specific guidance verified, but exact approved safeguarding/disability course, practical-assessment arrangements and refresher intervals remain unestablished.
- Latest evidence reviewed is April 2025; subsequent review outcome not yet verified.
- Occupancy wording inconsistently says five or more and six-to-eight for rate 4; do not infer applicability.