RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
Gosport
Gosport Borough Council · Sources checked 13 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
Gosport’s September 2025 Regulatory Board report confirms that the borough council is the licensing authority for hackney-carriage and private-hire drivers, vehicles and operators and that public safety is the overriding objective. The report approved a revised policy for consultation; final adoption was not verified, so applicants should request the current application pack from the council rather than rely on the draft.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
In its 2026 Department for Transport return, Gosport reported age standards and CCTV fitted for taxis and private-hire vehicles. It reported no daily roadworthiness-check requirement, rear-window light-transmission threshold or DBS requirement for non-driver vehicle owners. Exact limits and application requirements remain withheld because the detailed September 2025 council document located in this review was explicitly proposed consultation material, not final adoption proof.
- Operator licensing
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
In its 2026 Department for Transport return, Gosport reported 17 private-hire operator licences and said operators must retain all 12 booking-record fields surveyed, including passenger, booking, journey, driver, vehicle, booker and dispatcher details. It reported that a policy on employing people with convictions is required, but answered no for mandatory dispatcher/booker DBS checks. The same return recorded a dedicated taxi and private-hire policy updated in 2024. This is an authority-reported statistical return, not a complete application checklist; confirm the current application process, licence term, staff-vetting rules and fees with the council.
- Licensing fees
- Official route/source found
Council-approved fees apply from 1 January 2026. Hackney carriage or private hire vehicle £345. HC or PH driver £125 for one year or £290 for three years; dual driver three-year licence £425. PH operator £335 for one year, £790 for three or £1,330 for five. HC knowledge test £55; drugs test £43.50; DBS charged at cost. Replacement driver photo badge £22, windscreen badge £29 or external plate £29. These are the appendix's final rounded figures, not its intermediate calculated column.
- Taxi tariff
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
Dated official August 2022 evidence gives £3 first 153 metres, then 20p/153 metres, waiting 20p/40 seconds, dogs 50p and fouling £70. Republished July 2024 board minutes resolve a further 30p pull-off increase and bringing the +50% period forward from midnight to 23:30; the operative consolidated card and commencement are not recovered. PHTM September 2026 still reports a £7.20 two-mile daytime benchmark, consistent with the older £3 flag rather than £3.30. This source conflict is unresolved; no single set is asserted as the current calculator fare.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
The council's September 2025 policy-review report records that Gosport had already moved its driver knowledge test from an in-house test to Safe4Transport. It describes the replacement as a classroom-taught course covering the knowledge test, safeguarding and county-lines drug awareness. The report also records the former three-attempt rule and one-year wait after a third failure, but says information about the changed test had previously been omitted. Because the revised policy was approved for consultation rather than evidenced here as finally adopted, current provider, retry, syllabus and refresher details must be confirmed with the council.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- The main council site returned 403. Final policy adoption, current application steps, vehicle/operator rules, fees, fare card and mandatory qualifications remain withheld.
- The separate £170 dual-driver row has no clear duration label and is not assigned a licence term here.
- Vehicle duration and any separate application/renewal distinction are not established by the extracted table.
- The DfT return does not provide a complete current operator application checklist, licence term or fee schedule; the located 2025 local policy was consultation material only.
- Final post-consultation policy and current provider, retry, syllabus and refresher details remain unverified.
- Current full official card, 2024 commencement and discrepancy against September2026 benchmark require resolution.
- Night end, festive schedule, exact pulse rounding and remaining extras not fully confirmed.
- Exact age limits, application documents, inspections and fees require an operative council source.