RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks District Council · Sources checked 13 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official route/source found
New applicants need a full UK or acceptable overseas licence heldone year, right to work, Group2 medical and enhanced criminal checks. The council checks the national licensing register. Sevenoaks station rank additionally needs an APCOA permit.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official route/source found
Read the vehicle policy before purchase. Submit and pay for the online application; a saved but unpaid form is not received by the council. Supply V5 and insurance permitting HC public hire or private hire as applicable, by post, delivery or licensing@sevenoaks.gov.uk. Book the council taxi compliance test. The council aims to issue new/renewal plates within five working days of receiving all documents including the test certificate; this is a service target, not permission to work before issue.
- Operator licensing
- Official route/source found
Five-year operator licences are standard, with shorter periods where appropriate. Applicants submit form and fee and Basic DBS under one month old, including each company director/partner; current Sevenoaks licensed drivers are exempt from the extra check. Overseas applicants with less than five continuous UK years need authenticated good-conduct evidence. Operators need booking/dispatch staff registers, sight of staff Basic DBS and an ex-offender employment policy. Booking records are retained six months. New bases must be within Sevenoaks; qualifying pre-2018/19 out-of-district operators retain grandfather rights. Planning permissions and appropriate public liability and vehicle insurance are required. After online submission, new applicants arrange an appointment unless already licensed drivers.
- Licensing fees
- Official route/source found
The current council download identifies these as fees from April 2026. HC, PH and dual driver applications cost £280 for three years or £236 for one; renewal £194 for three years or £135 for one. Annual vehicle new/renewal: HC £344, PH £315. Operator new/renewal: five years £792/£622, three years £569/£397, one year £343/£174. Knowledge test £54, EQUO online test £70; DBS application £49.50 plus £32 administration. A vehicle licence surrendered within six months qualifies for a £120 refund.
- Taxi tariff
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
Council page still displays 1 May 2022 schedule: £4.20 first half mile, then 30p per 176 yards; waiting 50p/minute normally, 65p at 23:00–07:00 or ordinary bank holidays, 90p festive. Night adds £2, ordinary holidays £2.20, festive periods double the prescribed fare (24 December18:00–27 December06:00 and 31 December18:00–2 January06:00). Each passenger above four adds 25%; pets £3.30 excluding qualifying assistance dogs; soiling settled between proprietor and passenger. A July2026 statutory proposal closed 3August and requires a subsequent council decision. No final outcome recovered: the older displayed amounts must not be represented as conclusively unchanged after that consultation.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official route/source found
Applicants must pass both the council knowledge test and EQUO taxi-driver test and take a taxi driving-standard assessment. Discuss convictions, medical issues or other concerns before paying for tests.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- April2026 fee attachment discovered but not extracted; vehicle/operator/tariff details outstanding.
- Both pages of the current April 2026 fee schedule were independently rendered and visually checked against the extracted amounts on 13 September 2026.
- Preserve existing verified fields. Do not infer Enhanced DBS merely from the application hub's privacy notice: operator section specifies Basic. Numeric fees not refreshed.
- 2026 proposal outcome and operative replacement card unresolved. Retain dated displayed amounts, not calculator-ready current rates.
- Application process verified; full policy age/emission/inspection-frequency thresholds and current fees require further extraction.
- Preserve prior verified fields.