RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
Swale
Swale Borough Council · Sources checked 13 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official route/source found
The2025–2030 policy provides dual/private-hire and restricted private-hire driver routes. Restricted licences are for specified contracted or limited work, using a correspondingly restricted Swale vehicle.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official route/source found
Arrange an approved-garage inspection before applying online. This application service asks for an existing dual/private-hire driver licence number, email and payment card. After submitting, email V5, most recent MOT and suitable hire-and-reward insurance to taxis@swale.gov.uk. The current service quotes £340 for first vehicle licensing and £290 renewal.
- Operator licensing
- Official route/source found
Apply by completing the linked application and emailing it with evidence to taxis@swale.gov.uk, then pay the £430 fee online. The operator section asks for trading/contact details, booking/driver/vehicle records at the trading address and communications with vehicles. Non-Swale-driver operators must provide Basic DBS less than one month old and annual refreshes. The council issues successful applications in writing. This summary uses the operator-specific form provisions, not unrelated driver-only sections of the shared form.
- Licensing fees
- Official route/source found
Approved2026/27 fees list the annual vehicle licence at£290. Other fees have not been safely extracted.
- Taxi tariff
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
Tariff content checked 23 October 2026. The current council charging page now displays £3.80 for the first 182 metres, then 10p per started 62 metres, with waiting at 35p per minute or part. This replaces the older £3.40 statement. Night, bank-holiday, festive and larger-vehicle supplements have separate conditions. The final objection outcome and exact legal commencement remain unconfirmed; the consultation also has inconsistent distance/example wording. No calculator model is enabled.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official route/source found
The policy assesses skills, knowledge, experience, medical and criminal history, and expects proficiency in spoken, written and read English. Full testing sequence remains to be extracted.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- Preserve prior fields. Full operator policy and fee commencement date not refreshed; current displayed amount is not a legally dated fee schedule.
- September 2026 objection outcome and operative table unresolved.
- Consultation itself conflicts between 200-yard and219-yard initial distance; no silent correction.
- Do not stack repeated large-vehicle 50% headings without clarification.
- Vehicle age/emission standards and inspection frequency remain unextracted. Service eligibility is not a claim that every non-driver proprietor is legally ineligible. Fee effective date not stated.
- Preserve prior verified fields.