RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
Torridge
Torridge District Council · Sources checked 13 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official route/source found
Torridge issues a combined hackney-carriage and private-hire driver licence, so one driver licence covers either vehicle type. A licensed vehicle may only be driven by a person holding the appropriate Torridge driver licence.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official route/source found
Hackney carriages may ply for hire or wait on ranks; private-hire vehicles must be booked in advance. Both require a vehicle licence, and the council’s taxi hub links the vehicle application and policy material.
- Operator licensing
- Official route/source found
Private-hire work must be booked in advance through an operator; the council’s taxi hub links its private-hire licensing route and licensing team contact details.
- Licensing fees
- Official route/source found
The 2026/27 schedule lists a one-year private-hire vehicle application at £110 plus £100 grant, a new one-year combined driver application at £150 plus £100 grant, and a one-year private-hire operator application at £60 plus £100 grant per vehicle. A new hackney-carriage vehicle application is £180 plus £100 grant, including a £70 demand-survey element.
- Taxi tariff
- Official route/source found
Effective 3 November 2025, superseding the older card. Up to four passengers: ordinary day£4.50 for the first¾ mile then£3.30/mile; night/Sunday/bank holiday£6.75 then£4.95/mile; festive£9 then£6.60/mile. For5–8 passengers the corresponding initial/per-mile pairs are£6.75/£4.95, £10.13/£7.43 and£13.50/£9.90. All bands charge25p for each requested waiting minute or part. Day07:00–22:00, night22:00–07:00; Christmas/New Year's Day excluded from ordinary bands. Festive wording: midnight Christmas Eve to midnight Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve22:00 to midnight New Year's Day. Valeting£100. Each child or baby counts as one passenger against licensed capacity. The card publishes per-mile prices, not intermediate meter pulses, so exact distance rounding cannot be inferred for the calculator.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
Current-linked July 2025 guidance requires BTEC Level 2 Introduction to the Role of the Professional Taxi and Private Hire Driver and an approved taxi driving assessment certificate no more than three years old. Listed practical providers include Devon Drivers Training Centre, Diamond, Blue Lamp and Green Penny. Drivers need twelve months holding an eligible licence, enhanced DBS/Update Service and a GP Group 2 medical. Medicals repeat every five years until 65, annually thereafter. Separate safeguarding refreshers remain unverified.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- The current full fare card, detailed vehicle conditions and mandatory qualification evidence remain to be verified.
- Qualification subset only; remaining training/refresher requirements not verified.
- Intermediate mileage pulses and part-mile rounding not printed.
- Festive midnight wording and bank-holiday precedence must remain source-faithful; no invented exact calendar interpretation.