Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy Review consultation

The council is the issuing authority for hackney carriage driver and vehicle licences, and private hire driver, vehicle and operator licences. The purpose of the legislation around these licences is to ensure public safety.

The council has had comprehensive policies in relation to hackney carriage and private hire licensing for a number of years and these are all contained within the Taxi and Private Hire Handbook which was last updated in January 2025. The handbook is a complete reference guide for those in the trade, those wishing to join the trade, all other stakeholders and interested parties.

The council keeps all its policies under regular review so that they remain relevant and best achieve the purposes they were designed for. As part of any policy change the council will consult widely so as well as asking licence holders for their opinions, we would like to hear the views of any party with an interest in hackney carriage or private hire licensing. This can be anyone from an individual member of the public through to Hertfordshire County Council as a provider of school transport.

The proposed policy areas to be amended are bullet pointed below (more detail on the proposed changes and the reasoning are included in the consultation document):

• Licensing Record Points Scheme (LRPS)
• Vehicle Age and Emissions Policy
• Vehicle and trailer specifications and conditions
• Driver licence conditions
• The code of good conduct and the dress code
• Hackney carriage vehicle limit
• Suitability Policy
• Private hire operator conditions
• Signs and advertising

Please see the documents on the right hand side of the page describing the proposed changes in detail and giving reasons for those changes. The drafts of the amended Policies are also visible on the right-hand side of this page and you can view the current versions by looking in the handbook detailed above.

We would like to hear from licence holders, residents, businesses, statutory bodies and anyone else that is a stakeholder or interested party in relation to hackney carriage and private hire licensing in East Herts.

The consultation ends on Friday 14 August 2026