Decision details

Applicants for taxi and private hire driver’s licences are required to have a DBS check on initial application and every 3 years thereafter. Prior to Covid-19 an applicant would make an appointment with the licensing team to complete the application. A fee of £44 was charged.

The fee charged was £44.00, which was the fee for an enhanced DBS check charged by the DBS service at the time these arrangements were introduced. However, in 2019, the fee for a DBS was reduced to £40 by the DBS, but the Council did not review its charges at this time – the Council is able to recover its costs (but not to profit) from the administration of licences. The additional £4 covered some of the staff costs for supporting drivers through the process

As a consequence of Covid 19 new processes needed to be identified. The online DBS checking through Suffolk County Council has been identified as the most satisfactory method. This system which is simpler application incurs a fee of £12.50 per check for using this system.

To increase the fee for a DBS application fee to £52.50.

Reason: to enable the Council to cover its costs of administering taxi licensing.