Update on hackney carriage and private hire licensing in North Northamptonshire

06 January 2026

Following the end of a consultation on hackney carriage and private hire licensing fees and charges, North Northamptonshire Council is today providing an update on hackney carriage and private hire licensing matters in the local area.

Fees and Charges

The Council’s Licensing and Appeals Committee will consider objections to the harmonised fees and charges proposals and determine the fees on 20 January 2026.

The new fees will come into effect on 26 January 2026.

Currently, interims harmonised fees and charges apply to ensure parity and fairness for the licensed trade. The interim fees were set at the minimum fee currently charged by any of the four former authority areas and do not allow for full cost recovery.

Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy

The Council introduced a revised policy and new hackney carriage byelaws from 3 November 2025. Both the policy and byelaws are available on the taxi licensing webpages.

As requested by Councillors, the policy will be further reviewed in 2026. As part of this review, a working group is to be set up with representatives from the industry to aid the process. Further information about the follow up review will be published in due course.

Alongside the implementation of the new policy, a consultation also took place on revisions to the driver knowledge test.

Driver knowledge test

Following the transition to a single hackney carriage zone, the Council consulted on plans to implement new geographical and knowledge testing for drivers of hackney carriage vehicles. The proposed new testing applies to applicants for a hackney carriage driver licence and combined hackney carriage and private hire driver licence, as well as to existing hackney carriage drivers.

The new testing regime was implemented based upon the principles consulted on, with new testing dates being finalised and communicated to applicants.