RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
North Kesteven
North Kesteven District Council · Sources checked 10 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official route/source found
North Kesteven issues a combined hackney-carriage and private-hire driver licence, normally for three years. Applicants must use the council application pack, provide the specified identity, driving and right-to-work evidence, complete the required checks and tests, and attend an appointment at the council's Sleaford offices. Applicants must be at least 18 and normally have held a full UK driving licence for at least 12 months.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official route/source found
A separate council vehicle licence is required for each hackney carriage or private-hire vehicle carrying no more than eight passengers. The vehicle must be suitable, mechanically sound, insured for hire and reward and pass the council's detailed compliance test to current MOT standards twice each year. A private-hire vehicle must not be designed or presented so that it resembles a taxi.
- Operator licensing
- Official route/source found
A five-year private-hire operator licence is required to invite or accept bookings. The operating base must be inside North Kesteven, the applicant must be fit and proper and entitled to work in the UK, and the address must be suitable with planning permission where needed. A Basic DBS certificate less than one month old is required unless the applicant is already a North Kesteven licensed driver; public-access premises also require public-liability insurance.
- Licensing fees
- Official route/source found
The council's 2026/27 notice applies from 1 April 2026. A one-year driver grant is £135.98 and renewal £132.39; a three-year grant is £193.35 and renewal £189.76. The DVLA check is £9.90 and the knowledge test £28. New full-plate vehicle fees are £123.05 for hackney carriage and £129.21 for private hire; full-plate renewals are £116.12 and £121.84 respectively. A five-year operator grant is £174.54 and renewal £167.54.
- Taxi tariff
- Official route/source found
Tariff content checked 23 October 2026. The current council card remains internally inconsistent: the £3.50 initial tenth-mile and 20p subsequent tenth-mile rows imply £5.30 for the first mile, while its caption states £4.80. TECSI does not resolve that conflict by choosing one printed figure or a trade comparison. Calculator pricing and rankings for this authority are withheld until the operative scale is clarified.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official route/source found
A driver applicant must complete safeguarding training and accept the code of conduct, pass the council knowledge test, meet the medical standard and undergo Enhanced DBS and DVLA checks. The medical is required on application, then every six years or annually after age 65; the DVLA check is repeated annually. The council requires an Enhanced DBS check every six months unless continuity is maintained through the DBS Update Service.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- The live driver-route page still displays a £25 knowledge-test figure, while the later current 2026/27 fee notice effective 1 April 2026 states £28. The release uses the dated fee notice and does not reproduce the older page figure.
- The current pages do not publish external provider charges for medical examinations or DBS processing, so those amounts are not inferred.
- The fare card's file path contains a 2023 upload date, but it is released only because the current hackney-carriage page expressly links that card and states that the new tariff took effect on 7 April 2025. The file path date is not treated as an operative date.