Fareham council sees surge in taxi licence applications

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 2 Nov, 09:52 · Archive

Fareham Borough Council is receiving more income than budgeted from taxi licences but facing staff pressures from the volume of applications.

Fareham Borough Council is receiving substantially more income than budgeted from Hackney carriage taxi licences, but the surge in applications is straining council staff. The higher-than-expected income was highlighted when councillors scrutinised the authority's finances at an Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting on 26 October. Neil Wood, the council's financial planning and audit manager, said the influx was 'positive' for the council but creating difficulties for the team. He stated: 'Another area where we have an awful lot of income is in the Hackney carriage licences, and we are well above budget on that. While this is positive, it is causing some issues in the team with the number of applications that are coming through.'

A consultation is underway on reducing some of the licensing criteria in an attempt to bring application numbers down. The council's latest General Fund monitoring report forecasts an overall underspend of around £328,000. Planning income is also performing better than expected, currently running around £125,000 above budget, with major applications and those connected to the Welborne development contributing to the higher figures. However, StreetScene is the only area showing an overspend, with rising fuel costs a contributing factor, with fuel spending around £50,000 higher than the same point last year.

How it is being reported

• Boom in taxi licences across the Fareham borough leaves council team ‘really busy’Boom in taxi licences leaves council team ‘really busy’The News, Portsmouth · 2 Nov, 09:11
• Fareham council seeing 'awful lot of income' from taxi licencesA boom in taxi licence applications is bringing in extra cash but piling pressure on council staffSouthern Daily Echo · 31 Oct, 14:31

In this story: Fareham Borough Council · Neil Wood · Fareham · Welborne

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