South Cambridgeshire District Council Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy

All applicants must read the Policy and Conditions before starting the application process.

Review of Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy

We have amended how we process and administer licensing applications. We have also reviewed part of the Policy to reflect various changes, and identified where some of the aspects within the policy should be amended to help support the trade and allow for some flexibility.

On 5 October 2022, the Licensing Committee agreed to further revisions to the Policy which took effect on 21 October 2022. The amendments are intended to support the trade during the very difficult financial situation. In addition, the removal of age limits is in recognition of the draft revisions of the Department for Transport’s Statutory Taxi & Private Hire Vehicle Standards, which suggests that setting of an arbitrary age limit may be inappropriate and counterproductive and result in higher costs to the trade and ultimately passengers. 

The revisions are as follows:               

• All Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles (with the exception of exempted executive hire) must be fitted with a Council approved CCTV system. 
• Any newly licensed vehicle must have CCTV meeting the Council’s specification, installed prior to licensing from 1 April 2023 and existing licences must have CCTV installed on renewal from 1 April 2023. (Information on the approved specification and details of suppliers and installers will be available on our website in the New Year).
• Where a fault of the CCTV system is identified, this must be reported to the Licensing Authority within 24-hours. If the fault is not rectified within 5 working days, the vehicle will be suspended until the CCTV equipment is fully operational.
• Until 1 December 2023, a new licence will be granted for a vehicle if it is at least Euro 6 compliant or zero or ultra-low emission.
• Until 1 December 2023, a licence will be renewed only if it is at least Euro 5 emission standards.
• From 1 December 2023, a licence will only be granted if it is Euro 6 compliant, Zero or ultra-low emissions category.
• By no later than 1 December 2028, all licensed private hire and hackney carriage vehicles must be zero or ultra-low emission. This is to coincide with the restrictions for Cambridge City Centre access for Ultra-Low and Zero Emission licensed vehicles only. This aspect will be kept under review and may be modified by the Authority at a prior date.

Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy 21 October 2022 [PDF, 1MB]

Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Handbook [PDF, 1MB]