RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea Council · Sources checked 13 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official route/source found
Dual driver applicants must be 21 or older and have held a full UK licence for three years. Request the application/welcome pack from HackneyCarriage@southend.gov.uk before starting the online application.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
In its 2026 Department for Transport return, Southend-on-Sea reported both age and emissions standards for taxis and private-hire vehicles, permitted CCTV in both fleets, and required daily roadworthiness checks for both. It also reported a limit on licensed taxi numbers, but no DBS requirement for non-driver vehicle owners. This authority-reported return is not a complete application specification; confirm exact thresholds, quantity-limit scope, inspections, documents and fees with the council.
- Operator licensing
- Official route/source found
Published operator conditions require a vehicle register showing licence, proprietor, registration and first-operated date, retained at least six months after the vehicle leaves the operation. Each booking must be recorded before the journey with booking/hiring dates and times, customer, pickup point, allocated driver and vehicle; retain six months. Operators must hold their drivers' and vehicles' licences, undertake Basic criminal-record checks and notify address changes and new convictions/cautions/fixed penalties within seven days. The council page permits a base up to seven miles outside the city boundary, subject to applicable planning consent.
- Licensing fees
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
Secondary evidence only: a TaxiTools transcription checked 1 August 2026 reports the 2026–27 three-year driver charge as £405 new, including the knowledge test, and £355 renewal. It reports annual vehicle charges of £405 for hackney carriage and £360 for private hire, running 1 March to 28 February. Reported operator charges are £1,485 for five years, £1,245 for two to three years, £1,000 for under two years, or £140 for a one-year licence limited to three or fewer vehicles. The current council schedule was not independently retrieved in this review; confirm every amount and term before payment.
- Taxi tariff
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
A council statutory notice dated 2 July 2026 proposed £4.50 for the first quarter-mile or two minutes, or a combination. Subsequent distance/time combinations were 20p per 170 yards or 36 seconds until £10.10, then 20p per 134 yards or 28.8 seconds. Overnight waiting was 20p per 24 seconds midnight–04:00, extended to 06:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and bank-holiday Mondays, excluding Christmas/New Year. Objections closed 16 July. This is a proposed/conditionally approved schedule: no final objection outcome or operative card has been recovered, so do not treat the elapsed consultation deadline as proof these prices are in force. The notice does not reproduce the full festive/extra-charge schedule.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official route/source found
The restricted private-hire route does not require the topography knowledge test and is limited to airport, theatre and general out-of-town bookings at a fare agreed when booked. Full dual testing requirements are in the application pack.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- Detailed checks, vehicle/operator requirements, fees and tariffs not extracted.
- Current council fee schedule was not independently retrieved; all figures remain explicitly secondary.
- Preserve prior fields. Published conditions are the source for these specific duties; no exhaustive eligibility or numeric fee review in this enrichment.
- Operative commencement and consultation outcome unconfirmed.
- Complete current festive bands and extras not recovered; combined initial/time allowance not calculator-ready.
- Exact standards, quantity-limit scope, application documents, inspection schedule and fees are not supplied by the DfT return.