RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
Newark and Sherwood
Newark and Sherwood District Council · Sources checked 10 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official route/source found
Read the council taxi policy, complete the driver application form and arrange an in-person appointment at Castle House. A new application costs £240 and normally takes around six to eight weeks. During processing, the applicant must complete the council's knowledge and practical-driving tests and the specified medical, criminal-record, driving-record and right-to-work checks. A successful licence covers both hackney carriage and private-hire driving for three years.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official route/source found
Complete the council's vehicle application form and submit it with the MOT certificate, V5C and proof of insurance, identifying the vehicle as hackney carriage or private hire. Every licensed vehicle must pass an initial council inspection and then another inspection every six months. The council issues the licence only after the required documents and a passed inspection are confirmed.
- Operator licensing
- Official route/source found
A private-hire operator licence is required to accept bookings. Complete the council's operator form for premises inside Newark and Sherwood district. The council assesses criminal record, character, previous licensing conduct, record keeping and legal compliance, and the applicant must show that the operating address is suitable and has any necessary planning permission. The published five-year fee is £380 plus £40 for each vehicle.
- Licensing fees
- Official route/source found
The Full Council-approved 2026/27 schedule applies from 1 April 2026. A new driver application is £240; the licence fee for up to three years is £160, or £60 annually for a person over 65, and the knowledge test is £45. An annual hackney-carriage vehicle licence is £250 and an annual private-hire vehicle licence is £190. A five-year operator licence is £380 plus £40 per vehicle. Six-monthly inspections are £55 without an MOT or £65 with one.
- Taxi tariff
- Official route/source found
No numeric hackney-carriage tariff is released from this record. Official committee material confirms historical changes, including a March 2023 decision to move the evening Tariff 2 start to 8pm, but the council's current taxi pages do not provide a consolidated current fare card or a commencement date for the combined tariff. Older fare appendices must not be presented as the present table without that confirmation.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official route/source found
A new driver must pass the council knowledge test and a practical driving test, meet the DVLA Group 2 medical standard through the council's medical adviser, pass the required DBS and DVLA record checks, and prove the right to work in the UK. The council applies a fit-and-proper-person assessment before granting the combined three-year driver licence.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- A current consolidated hackney-carriage fare card and its operative date were not located on the council's current taxi pages. The 2023 committee decision is final but only changes one component of an older table, so all numeric tariff fields are withheld.
- The current vehicle application page does not state the duration of the vehicle licence; only the approved annual licence-fee categories and six-month inspection cycle are published from the verified sources.
- DBS, medical and practical-driving-test charges are not stated in the approved council licence-fee schedule and may change independently, so they are not inferred.