RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
Welwyn Hatfield
Welwyn Hatfield Council · Sources checked 13 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
The council's live application hub directs applicants to the driver application pack. Its published procedure says driver licences normally run for three years and requires an application appointment, identity photographs and current right-to-work evidence. Applicants complete a knowledge test, a DVLA Group 2 medical, DBS and DVLA checks, and a DVSA taxi-driving standard check; the council also assesses English communication. The process must be completed within six months. Applicants should use the current pack because parts of the longer procedure contain legacy document and payment wording.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official route/source found
The council's published hackney-carriage conditions (2020 document, currently linked) require purpose-built M1 type-approved wheelchair-accessible vehicles, including transfers after accidental damage. Vehicles must be manufactured right-hand drive, Euro 6, permanently silver with council door crests, and carry appropriate access equipment. Capacity must accommodate four passengers plus a wheelchair user, with no more than eight when no wheelchair is carried. Proprietors and drivers must maintain mechanical safety and cleanliness, and drivers require council-approved training for wheelchair loading and other safety features.
- Operator licensing
- Official route/source found
The current-linked December 2021 pack requires an office in Welwyn Hatfield, a completed form and fee, and Basic DBS checks for applicants and company directors; applicant checks repeat annually. Public-facing premises are inspected for heating, lighting, ventilation and seating, and need public liability insurance. Demonstrate planning approval or relevant permission to operate from a residential address. Keep booking and vehicle records for at least twelve months, including driver, vehicle, booking-taker and dispatcher identity. Maintain a booking/dispatch staff register and annual Basic checks, including equivalent vetting for outsourced staff, plus an ex-offender employment policy. Only use locally licensed drivers and vehicles directly; lawful subcontracting leaves the original operator responsible. Obtain prior council agreement before changing the operating address.
- Licensing fees
- Official route/source found
April 2026 published charges: three-year hackney or private-hire driver £505; annual vehicle £326; operator one/three/five years £370/£855/£1,340; knowledge test £68 per attempt.
- Taxi tariff
- Official route/source found
Current council maximum: £3 for the first525yards(480m), then20p per150yards(137m); waiting40p/minute. Supplements, not per passenger:50% for23:00–07:00, Sunday07:00–midnight, Christmas/New Year's Eves19:00–midnight and bank holidays except Christmas/Boxing Day. Christmas/Boxing Day and New Year's Day00:00–07:00 add100%. Fouling by passengers or animals up to£100. The page does not give an effective date, increment rounding or stacking instructions for overlapping supplements; those remain unknown.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
Current published application guidance requires sufficient English, Group2 medical and DBS/DVLA checks. Private-hire applicants take a10-question verbal geography test (80% pass), written/simple maths assessment and English conversation. Hackney applicants additionally take a one-hour two-part exam:20 written routes and10 byelaw/condition questions, each80%; passing supports a dual licence. All drivers, operators and proprietors must undertake council-run CSE awareness training at application and before every licence renewal; the page says free and no longer than two hours, with non-attendance considered against fitness. Medicals repeat every3years until65, then annually. However, the same guidance still names a discontinued DVSA taxi certificate and cash/cheque-only payments. Approved contemporary practical-assessment arrangements therefore remain unresolved; this is not full current-process certification.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- Detailed current eligibility, vehicle specifications and fare card require extraction.
- The council still serves legacy references in the detailed procedure, including obsolete-looking nationality-document and payment wording. These are not repeated as current requirements; applicants should use the current application pack or confirm with the licensing team.
- Preserve prior verified fields.
- Current fee and licence duration not verified in the recovered pack. Preserve previously verified fields.
- Current practical-assessment provider and safeguarding/refresher arrangements remain unverified; source includes legacy process references.
- Safeguarding timing is now explicitly recovered from the published page; current practical-assessment provider remains unresolved because the page retains legacy DVSA wording.
- No legal commencement date, started-increment rule or overlap stacking established.
- Hackney specifications verified from linked conditions; vehicle application pack, fees, age and inspection cadence remain unverified here.