RESEARCHED AUTHORITY
Wigan
Wigan Council · Sources checked 13 September 2026
- Driver licensing
- Official route/source found
The council's combined application form covers private-hire and hackney-carriage driver licensing. Applicants complete and email the electronic form, pay the relevant fee, and provide DVLA, right-to-work and—where applicable—tax-check codes. The supporting-document checklist requires a completed medical, recent photograph, driving-licence copy, DBS identity evidence unless already on the Update Service, and an authenticated certificate of good conduct after more than three months outside the UK in the preceding five years. Applicants must be ready for the next knowledge-test date; failure to pass within four months can trigger fresh DBS and medical evidence. The council's current driver hub links the separate knowledge-test guidance and records suspension risks for missing satisfactory DBS evidence or mandatory driver training.
- Vehicle licensing
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
Official eligibility page updated 10 August 2026 states policy amended 7 August 2026. New/change applications require Euro 4 petrol or Euro 6 diesel, M1 conformity, and no initial age limit; HC saloons may enter only until 1 June 2027. Existing fleet transitions include 12-year saloon/17-year WAV limits and 31 December 2027 emissions/age provisions; all HC must be accessible by 31 December 2028. The page's 'whichever is latter' wording and absolute renewal deadline require individual expiry-date confirmation rather than a simplified universal cutoff. Category A/B write-offs are excluded; S/N require AutoLIGN/qualified assessor certification; imports need IVA evidence. Non-driver proprietors provide basic disclosure annually. New/change applications need V5C, ownership evidence and insurance; renewal needs V5C and insurance. Council inspection precedes licensing, with valid insurance required. HC plates are front/rear; PH additionally displays rear-door prebooking stickers. Current HC limit is 136, with no PH numerical limit.
- Operator licensing
- Official route/source found
Apply with the form, fee, mandatory operator policies and applicable right-to-work, Basic disclosure, planning permission and public-liability evidence. Non-driver applicants and company directors provide Basic disclosure at least every twelve months. Renewals can be submitted eight weeks before expiry; the council recommends at least four weeks. There is no cap on vehicles or drivers under an operator licence. An annual fee is due on each grant anniversary; non-payment suspends the licence and operating during suspension is unlawful. Notify a home-address change within seven days. The current page links conditions implementing Greater Manchester standards from 1 December 2021.
- Licensing fees
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
The council publishes a 2026/27 taxi schedule covering drivers, vehicles and operators. It lists £463 for a new three-year driver application including the knowledge test, £368 for a 12-month private-hire vehicle licence and banded operator application plus annual fees.
- Taxi tariff
- Official route/source found
Current council fares effective 26 April 2023. T1 hires 07:00–22:59: £3 first 176 yards, then 20p each started 176 yards; waiting 10p each started 29 seconds. T2 hires 23:00–06:59 and bank holidays except T3: £3.50 first 140.5 yards, then 20p each started 140.5 yards; waiting 10p each started 23 seconds. T3 festive: £6 first 88 yards, then 20p each started 88 yards; waiting 10p each started 14 seconds. The source describes T3 as after 18:00 on 24 December and before 06:59 on 27 December, and after 18:00 on 31 December before 06:59 on 2 January; exact boundary-minute treatment should be retained, not silently broadened. Each passenger above four adds £1.50 under T1/T2 or £3 under T3. Specified alcohol/drug-related sickness or animal soiling may attract £35. No other charges permitted.
- Mandatory qualifications
- Official evidence found; detail still to confirm
The 2026/27 schedule includes a knowledge test within the new-driver application charge, a £54 fee for later test attempts and a separate £21 driver-training charge. Confirm the exact course and pass sequence with the licensing team.
Withheld or still needing confirmation
- Detailed driver and operator application conditions and numeric hackney tariff remain to be verified.
- Applicants should check the live driver hub and current forms for test dates, fees and any case-specific evidence.
- Preserve prior fields. Exact fee bands and full linked policy requirements remain to be added; use current four-week renewal advice rather than older PDF's fourteen days.
- Exact festive boundary instants need explicit handling before automated calendar activation.
- Vehicle-specific expiry transition remains ambiguous between latter-of wording and absolute 31 December 2027 renewal prohibition; do not claim universal transition resolved.