RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
South Kesteven
South Kesteven District Council · Sources checked 10 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official route/source found
New Hackney Carriage or Private Hire driver applicants must contact South Kesteven customer services for an application pack, complete it and book an in-person appointment. Applications can take six to eight weeks depending on DBS timing and any further testing. Applicants must be at least 18, have held an accepted full driving licence for at least 12 months and provide the council with a DVLA check code and right-to-work evidence.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official route/source found
The council provides an online route for new Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicle licences and for transferring a licence to another vehicle. Under the policy effective 1 February 2026, ordinary new, renewal and replacement applications must meet Euro 6 from first registration, meaning registered after 1 September 2015, and vehicles can continue to be licensed only until 15 years old. Applicants should check the full vehicle specification before applying.
- Operator licensing
- Official route/source found
Use the council's online application for a Private Hire Operator licence. A private-hire vehicle must be controlled by a licensed operator, and the operator, driver and vehicle licences must all be issued by South Kesteven. The current policy requires the prescribed form, fee and Disability Awareness training certificates for customer-facing and service-management roles; the applicant is then assessed as fit and proper.
- Licensing fees
- Official route/source found
The current council page lists these charges as applying 'from 1st Feb' but does not print the year, so no year is inferred. A three-year driver licence is £220 and an annual driver licence is £80. Annual vehicle licences are £212 for Hackney Carriage and £231.50 for Private Hire, with published reductions for specified LPG, hybrid, electric and wheelchair vehicles. A five-year Private Hire Operator licence is £202.50. The English-language retest is £47.50; the initial test is free.
- Taxi tariff
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
South Kesteven partially deregulates Hackney Carriage fares: proprietors may deposit their own rate, while the council supplies a default table for those who do not. The currently linked 2025 default fare card states a £1.70 hiring charge, then 10p per subsequent 1/18 mile, waiting at 15p per minute, a booking fee not exceeding £12 and 70p for each passenger above four. Tariff 2 is 1.5 times the basic fare in its stated night, Sunday and holiday periods; Tariff 3 is twice the basic fare in its stated Christmas and New Year periods. The card prints no exact effective date and is not a private-hire tariff.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official route/source found
Before grant, a new driver must pass an approved practical driver-proficiency assessment, meet Group 2 medical standards, complete Enhanced DBS and retain a DBS Update Service subscription, and complete the council-required safeguarding, exploitation/modern-slavery and Disability Awareness courses. A communications test applies where the required English qualification cannot be demonstrated. Overseas good-conduct evidence is required where the policy's residence threshold is met. The February 2026 policy removed the former knowledge-test requirement, so no knowledge test is claimed here.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- The live fee page says the figures apply from 1 February but does not state a year; the separate licensing policy is effective 1 February 2026, but the fee year is not inferred from that coincidence.
- The currently linked default Hackney Carriage fare card is labelled 2025 but prints no exact effective date; no commencement date is inferred.
- The published fare card is only the council default under partial deregulation: an individual Hackney proprietor may use a different rate deposited with the council.
- Private-hire fares are not set by the council and the Hackney default fare card must not be presented as a private-hire tariff.
- External medical, driver-assessment, DBS and training charges are not treated as council licence fees.