RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
Tendring
Tendring Council · Sources checked 13 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official route/source found
Apply for the appropriate hackney or private-hire driver category; private-hire-only licensing does not authorise hackney driving. The council provides a driver information/application pack.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official route/source found
The current approved 2024 policy and March 2024 implementation newsletter require Euro 6 for new vehicles, with no minimum/maximum first-licensing age; the Euro 5 renewal transition ended 1 January 2026. MOTs are annual from age one for hackneys and three for private hire. Council mechanical testing is six-monthly, with an additional annual test at age ten and above; missed interim tests suspend the licence. Applications require comprehensive hire insurance, MOT where applicable, mechanical test, V5 or accepted ownership evidence and fee. Continuous insurance evidence is required. Dual plating is prohibited. Hackneys require an approved calibrated meter, visible fare table and working white roof sign; private-hire roof signs are prohibited. Front and rear plates must be securely displayed; executive exemptions require written authorisation and plates inside the vehicle.
- Operator licensing
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
Current approved 2024 policy §39 provides five-year operator licences from premises inside Tendring; planning consent must be obtained where required. Renew before expiry; late renewals are new applications. Bookings must be recorded before departure, identifying hirer, pickup/destination/times, allocated vehicle/driver, booking/dispatch staff, fare basis and subcontracting; retain records at least 12 months and produce them on demand. Operator, vehicle and driver licences must be from the same council. Public booking offices require at least £1 million public liability insurance; vehicle insurance copies must be retained. Address/director changes must be notified within seven days. A material source inconsistency remains: §39.1 asks for an enhanced DBS application, while §39.2 explicitly requires basic DBS within 28 days and exempts current council-licensed drivers; overseas applicants need good-conduct evidence. Confirm the correct operator-only DBS route with licensing rather than silently choosing a contradictory checklist.
- Licensing fees
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
The 2 February 2026 committee approved discretionary fees from April 2026. Driver grant/renewal application fees are £125 for one year, £155 for two or £185 for three. Suitability test and application pack £37; knowledge test £27 per test. Medical, passenger assistance, disability awareness, child sexual exploitation training and DBS are additional third-party costs. Vehicle/operator fees were separately subject to statutory advertising and delegated objection handling; their final consultation outcome has not been verified here.
- Taxi tariff
- Official route/source found
Tariff content checked 23 October 2026. The current-linked council newsletter gives a fare card effective 11 August 2022: £3.40 for the first 235 yards, then 30p per started 235 yards and 30p per minute or part waiting. The multiseat uplift can be triggered by carrying more than four passengers OR by providing additional luggage capacity, with separate festive conditions. It is not solely a passenger-count test. Calendar, waiting-uplift and multiseat festive calculations still require a dedicated model.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official route/source found
New applicants must pass suitability and knowledge tests. Child Sexual Exploitation and Vulnerable Persons training applies to grants and renewals from April 2024, through Blue Lamp Trust.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- Dual/operator wording on page needs full-policy reconciliation; not interpreted as requiring every employed dual driver personally to hold an operator licence.
- Driver fees verified from adopted appendix. Final vehicle/operator consultation outcome remains unconfirmed; proposed vehicle £312 grant/£299 renewal and operator bands are not represented as operative current fees.
- Preserve prior fields. Partial application and renewal route only. Current detailed operator vetting, staff policies and fee amounts are still unverified; do not treat the draft policy awaiting approval as adopted.
- Policy §39.1 enhanced-DBS checklist contradicts §39.2 basic-DBS operator rule; reconciliation required.
- Exact distance pulse rounding and the detailed luggage/capacity applicability should be checked against the displayed full card before calculator encoding.
- Exact emissions and safety thresholds, application documents, inspection schedule and fees are not supplied by the DfT return.