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
Tariff content checked 23 October 2026. A current council authorised-fares page has now been recovered: it prints £4 for the first quarter-mile or two minutes, or a combination, followed by 20p distance/time stages and a £9.80 fare threshold. It also lists festive, passenger and other extras. This differs from the July 2026 statutory proposal of £4.50 with a £10.10 threshold. The final statutory outcome remains unconfirmed; the proposal is not treated as operative and no calculator model is enabled.
- 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.