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Worcester taxi fares poised to rise despite objections warning of economic pressures facing cab trade
Worcester City Council has been asked to press ahead with changes to its hackney carriage fare tariff despite receiving two objections opposing the proposed increase.
The Licensing and Environmental Health Committee was asked at its meeting on 7 September to consider the consultation responses and agree that the revised table of fares should take effect from 15 September 2026. The proposal follows a review of taxi fares that began earlier this year.
The council’s Licensing Committee approved advertising a proposed variation to the existing table of fares on 15 June 2026. The consultation subsequently ran with a deadline of 19 August, giving interested parties an opportunity to object to the changes.
According to the committee report, two objections were received. Both opposed the proposed increase and cited the economic difficulties currently being experienced by the taxi trade.
The proposed change comes more than four years after Worcester’s existing hackney carriage tariff was introduced. The current table was approved by the Licensing and Environmental Health Committee on 24 March 2022 and came into effect on 1 May 2022.
Under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, councils can set maximum hackney carriage fares covering both distance and time, alongside other permitted charges associated with hiring a taxi. Where objections to a proposed tariff remain outstanding, the authority must consider them and set a further implementation date, no later than two months after the originally specified date. The revised tariff can then be introduced with or without modifications.
The council acknowledged that setting fares involves balancing the financial position of licensed taxi operators and drivers against affordability for passengers. Its report warned that setting the tariff too low could adversely affect taxi supply and availability, while setting it too high could particularly affect vulnerable passengers and push customers towards private hire services or vehicles licensed by neighbouring authorities.
Officials also identified disabled people, elderly passengers and families on low incomes among groups potentially affected by higher taxi fares. The wider assessment warned that excessive increases could reduce social mobility and increase transport costs.
Importantly for Worcester taxi drivers, the council-set tariff represents a maximum fare rather than a compulsory charge. Hackney carriage proprietors can charge less than the meter tariff if they choose. The council’s fare-setting powers in this case apply only to hackney carriages, with private hire operators able to agree their own charges with customers, normally when a journey is booked.
