Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy

All applicants for a hackney carriage (known as a black taxi) in South Cambridgeshire must read the hackney carriage and private hire policy [PDF, 1MB] before starting the application process. 

Reviewing the hackney carriage and private hire policy

Best practice guidance means we must look at statutory standards (from central government) when setting our taxi and private hire vehicle licensing policies and procedures. If we don’t apply the standards, we need strong reasons for not doing so. 

This has led to changes being proposed to the policy, which was consulted upon in May 2024. This will be released to the committee in Autumn 2024. You can also view the schedule of proposed revisions [PDF, 0.2MB].  

Vehicle age limits and emissions in general (except for wheelchair accessible vehicles), did not form part of the policy review this year. 

Penalty points system  

The penalty points system is due to change in September 2024, and this information will be updated.

The penalty points system allows us to provide a balanced, consistent and transparent approach of enforcement against licence holders who carry out offences. The penalty points system does not stop the authority body from using their power to put in place any actions they wish to under legislation or byelaws

Points are given by us to licence holders who are found to be in breach of legislation, byelaws, policy or conditions of licence. Points will be given by means of a written Notice. The Notice will explain the reason and number of points given to the licence holder. The maximum number of points that can be given in connection to an incident or inspection is set out in the policy. 

It is possible for more than one set of points to be given to a licence holder. A revocation means you won’t be a licence holder, and a new licence application will not usually be accepted by us for at least 6 months. If a licence holder gets 12 points or more within a rolling period of 12 months, then their licence will have to be reviewed by the Licensing sub-committee.  

Where a breach is a mix of any of the offences, the option to give points for each of the offences can be applied by any Licensing officer or the Licensing sub-committee. 

Appeals

A licence holder can appeal with either the Magistrates Court or the Taxi Licensing sub-committee if penalty points are applied to their licence. They will need to explain why they think the points should not have been given to them, as part of their appeal.

Notice of such an appeal must be submitted in writing to Health and Environmental services by emailing Taxis@scambs.gov.uk within 21 days of the date of the penalty points letter. 

For more information refer to the penalty points table [PDF, 0.1MB]