Taxi and private hire licensing policy
- Licensing policy for licenced drivers and operators (pdf 515 kb)
- Licensing policy for licenced vehicles (word 128 kb)
Licence conditions and byelaws
All licences have conditions attached to them. Additionally, the council has adopted byelaws covering hackney carriages.
- Hackney carriage byelaws (pdf 136 kb)
- Hackney carriage conditions (pdf 98 kb)
- Private hire vehicle conditions (pdf 98 kb)
Designated wheelchair accessible vehicles
Designated wheelchair accessible vehicles in accordance with section 167 of the equality act 2010.
- Designated wheelchair accessible vehicles (xls 9.6 kb)
Taxi forum
The taxi forum is usually held twice a year and gives the opportunity for members of the trade, licensing and other interested parties to meet and discuss issues.
Please contact the licensing team for the date of the next meeting.
East Hampshire taxi association
All drivers are reminded that they are able to join the East Hampshire taxi association (EHTA) free of charge.
The EHTA meets regularly to discuss issues affecting the trade. The licensing team can also attend meetings if requested.
We would encourage all drivers to sign up with the EHTA in order for views across the trade to be expressed. We will also include the EHTA in our consultations.
Drivers can sign up at the EHTA website or contact Pete Blackman of Alton 8s on 01420 88888 for more details.
Hackney carriage and private hire safeguarding awareness courses
The requirement for EHDC licenced drivers to complete safeguarding awareness training was introduced in the new hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy for drivers and operators.
This new policy came in on the 1st November 2023. Licenced drivers should be aware that the licensing committee as a one off, agreed the funding for the initial training for all existing licenced drivers.
Starting in March 2024 and continuing over the following 6-7 months, all current drivers licenced with EHDC prior to 1 December 2023 and current applicants who have applied for a drivers’ licence with EHDC prior to this date, will receive a personal invitation (by email) to book onto a Blue Lamp Trust taxi safeguarding virtual classroom course.
To manage the process and in line with course availability, personal invitations will be sent to up to 30 individual drivers each month and invitations must not under any circumstances be shared with other drivers or anyone else.
The courses are being arranged and managed by the Blue Lamp Trust on the council’s behalf. The course has been developed in conjunction with the Hampshire Constabulary and is 2 hours 45 minutes in length.
The aim of the course is to provide licenced hackney carriage and private hire drivers with a knowledge and understanding of safeguarding, your responsibilities and best practice. The course is delivered in a virtual classroom setting via Zoom.
You will need access to a smartphone, tablet, laptop or computer and have sound and a camera to participate in the course. Participation during the course will be assessed by the trainer and you will receive a certificate on successful completion of the course. These are issued 2-3 working days after the course by email.
Your personal invitation will include specific details on how to book onto the Blue Lamp Trust taxi safeguarding virtual classroom course. There will be a choice of course dates and times for the month in which you receive your invitation.
Additional course dates may be added during the month, and this may include course dates for the following month.
When booking a place on a course, please note the Blue Lamp Trust cancellation policy for their virtual training courses. If you are unable to attend the course of any reason, you must provide them with at least 7 day’s notice.
If you fail to attend the course you have booked on, or do not comply with any of the requirements of the Blue Lamp Trust in attending the course, you will forfeit the provision by EHDC of a free place on the course and you will need to make your own arrangements to attend and pay for another suitable course.
The current normal fee for the Blue Lamp Trust course is £25 (£30 from 1st April 2024). Please note that safeguarding awareness training must be completed via a virtual classroom setting. We do not accept safeguarding training via any eLearning courses.