Taxi journey in Welsh county could cost more if new council plans approved

Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

Taxi journeys could soon become more expensive under new council proposals aimed at helping drivers and operators cope with rising costs.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Planning, Taxi Licensing and Rights of Way committee on Thursday, June 11, councillors received a report on the “taxi tariff review.”

The fee increases will go to a future meeting of the Liberal Democrat/Labour cabinet for a decision.

Licensing officer Tom Goldsmith explained: “The report is on the proposed increase to taxi and hackney carriage fare rates; it’s for advice and to let committee know as a full report will be coming to cabinet in the coming weeks.

“We intend to propose an increase to the fees as they have not been increased since 2022.

“Since then, significant things have happened relating to the cost-of-living crisis, and the war in Iran which has pushed fuel prices up for everyone especially hitting our taxi drives hardest.”

He explained that the council had been told by “numerous” taxi firms in Powys saying that they are struggling to keep afloat due to the rising costs.

Mr Goldsmith said: ‘We feel it’s important to do what we can to support them given that Powys is a rural county and we have lots of people who rely on hackney carriages to get out and about.”

He explained that taxi prices are “low” in Powys compared to the rest of the country and the council is in 17th in the list out of 22 Welsh local authorities for charges.

Mr Goldsmith said: “Currently it’s £6 for every two miles and the lowest is Wrexham (county borough council) at £5.60.

“So, we’re only 40 pence higher than the cheapest and they are a much more metropolitan area.”

He added that the highest fees are in Conwy County Borough Council where the charge is £7.60 per two miles.

Mr Goldsmith said: “The tariffs will go up by approximately 35 pence a mile and there are subsequent increase for night time rates and tariffs that are charged at special events such as Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

“They are in line with inflation and should help the taxi trade without putting an onerous burden on the people who use them.:’

Waiting time tariffs

The report shows that waiting time tariffs are set to go up during the day from 20 pence to 30 pence a minute.

Cllr Gareth E Jones (Powys Independents – Llanelwedd) asked why the waiting time was going up by: “50 per cent.”

Mr Goldsmith said: “I understand the percentage looks large, but it is only 10 pence – this rate was relatively low when compared to other authorities.”

Committee chairman Cllr Gareth D Jones (Powys Independents – Llanfair Caereinion and Llanerfyl) said: “We’ll see how it works out moving forward.”

The committee noted the report.

Once a decision is taken – a 14-day consultation will take place on the finalised proposals.

Any comments or objection which will be brought back to the Planning committee for discussion.