RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
North West Leicestershire
North West Leicestershire District Council · Sources checked 10 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official route/source found
North West Leicestershire offers a private-hire driver licence or a dual private-hire and hackney-carriage driver licence. New applications are made online after completing the required checks and tests. Applicants upload a photograph, driving licence, Enhanced DBS certificate, DVLA check evidence and mandate, practical driving-assessment pass, Group 2 medical evidence, right-to-work documents and the other requested material.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official route/source found
Contact the licensing team before licensing a new hackney carriage or private-hire vehicle, then submit the online vehicle application. Every vehicle must pass the council's visual and mechanical criteria before grant. Vehicles are tested annually until they reach six years old and twice yearly from six years. Hackney carriages must have a meter fitted and programmed to the council policy before a licence is issued.
- Operator licensing
- Official route/source found
Private-hire operator licences are available for one, two, three, four or five years through the council's online account. Grant or renewal cannot proceed until the council receives a valid Basic DBS certificate, although it will also accept an Enhanced DBS certificate. Applicants must read and comply with the operator conditions in the council's hackney-carriage and private-hire licensing policy.
- Licensing fees
- Official route/source found
The council currently links a 2026/27 fee schedule but does not state its exact commencement date. Driver grant or renewal is £130 for one year, with two- and three-year renewals at £215 and £301; the knowledge test is £53. A vehicle licence is £302 under six years or £364 over six years, with stated wheelchair-accessible and ultra-low-emission discounts. Operator fees range from £298 for one year to £1,164 for five years.
- Taxi tariff
- Official route/source found
The council states that this hackney-carriage fare table took effect on 28 March 2022. The normal fare is £4 for up to one mile, then 20p for each additional tenth of a mile; requested waiting time is 25p per completed minute. Bank holidays and journeys begun between midnight and 6am are normal fare plus 33%, specified Christmas and New Year journeys are double fare, and qualifying five-to-eight-passenger journeys are normal fare plus 50%. The soiling charge is £50.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official route/source found
New drivers must pass the mandatory knowledge test and an accepted practical driving assessment, meet the DVLA Group 2 medical standard, provide an Enhanced DBS certificate and DVLA evidence, and satisfy right-to-work, English-language and fit-and-proper requirements. Safeguarding and disability awareness form part of the knowledge test, and every driver must complete the specified safeguarding-vulnerable-passenger and disability-awareness training within 12 months of first licensing. Enhanced DBS status is checked every six months.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- The current council page and PDF identify the figures as the 2026/27 schedule but do not state a precise commencement date, so no effective date is inferred.
- The 2026/27 schedule does not separately label new two- or three-year driver grants; only one-year grant or renewal and two- or three-year renewal figures are published, so longer new-grant prices are not inferred.
- Medical and practical-driving-assessment provider charges are not included in the council fee schedule and are not inferred. The council DBS page separately displays its current processing price, which is not presented as a council licence fee.