Posted on the 16th September 2025 in PHTM News

KIRKLEES CABBIES DEMAND ANSWERS AS MILLIONS OF POUNDS UNACCOUNTED FOR

Kirklees cabbies are demanding greater financial transparency from the council after raising "serious concern" that millions of pounds in licensing fee surpluses are "unaccounted for."

The issue was brought to a head during a September 15 meeting of Kirklees Council’s Licensing and Safety Committee, which was set to vote on a fee increase for hackney carriage and private hire licences.

Drivers opposed to the increase stated that the licensing department had generated "significant surpluses" before 2015, but the council has failed to provide any documentation on how the money was used or carried forward. Licensing fees are meant to cover the cost of the licensing process, and councils are not permitted to profit from them.

One driver explained: "Our issue isn’t the fee increase. Our issue is the surplus that’s been made over the years... We’re not talking a small amount of money, we’re talking millions that have gone missing, basically.”

According to council officers, information from before 2015 wasn't included in the current report because a change in finance systems made the data unavailable.

Officers also said that any issues from before 2015 should have been addressed during the last full review of fees. Drivers were advised to contact the council's finance or information governance department directly for a "full and accurate" explanation.

Trade representative Suhail Rasheed argued that without historic financial details, it was impossible to assess whether current and future fees were "fair, proportionate and justified."

He added: "This makes it impossible for us to have confidence that increases are being based on genuine costs rather than on mismanagement, inefficiency or even surplus charging in previous years."

Despite the drivers' concerns, the committee approved the new fee structure, with two councillors abstaining.

The council will now raise charges by three per cent from September 22 to March 2026, to help address a cumulative £98,000 deficit. This will be followed by a further increase of two per cent, or the rate of inflation if it is lower, in 2026/27 and then again in 2027/28. The council says this will allow the service to break even by March 2027. 

In real terms, this will result in the cost of a three-year driver’s licence rising from £249.20 to £257 with the three per cent increase. By 2027/28 this figure would stand at £267.

The cost of a five-year operator licence which covers three or more vehicles would rise from £1,166 to £1,201, with the three per cent uplift. By 2027/28, the cost would have risen by a total of £82.


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