Councillor David Skipp, Cabinet member for environmental health, recycling and waste, approved a new maximum hackney fare table on 15 October. It still has to be advertised and consulted on. These are maximum hackney fares only. The council does not set private hire prices.
The decision cannot be implemented before 23 October, and councillors can call it in. A notice goes in the West Sussex County Times on 29 October. Objections can be made until 12 November. If none are made, or if they are withdrawn, the fares start on 13 November. If any stand, Skipp must consider them and can change the table. It must then come into force by 13 January 2027. Meters would be recalibrated and resealed once the table is agreed.
The new maximums
For a cab licensed for up to four passengers, the daytime flag would rise from £4.20 to £4.40. That still covers the first 710 metres, but the time allowed for it would lengthen from 2 minutes 39 seconds to 2 minutes 52 seconds. After that, 20p would be charged every 124 metres, instead of every 134. The night flag stays at £6.40, and the night unit stays at 30p, over that shorter distance.
On the council’s mileage chart, a daytime trip would rise from £5.53 to £5.85 for one mile, from £8.07 to £8.45 for two miles, and from £15.69 to £16.25 for five miles. The two-mile rise is 4.71 per cent. A two-mile night trip would rise from £11.99 to £12.66. The chart’s 10-mile daytime figure, £18.85, does not follow the new unit charge.
For a cab licensed for five to eight passengers, the daytime flag would rise from £6.30 to £6.60. The night flag would rise from £8.40 to £9.90, while the night unit would fall from 60p to 45p, again over 124 metres rather than 134.
Extra passengers, luggage, card payments and the £100 soiling charge are unchanged. An assistance dog is still carried free.
The current night rate also applies on Sundays. The proposed table does not mention Sundays.
Christmas and New Year
The double daytime rate would start at 6pm on Christmas Eve, five hours earlier than the present 11pm, and run until 7am on 27 December. It now ends at 5am that morning. At New Year it would start at 6pm on 31 December, again five hours earlier, and still run until 7am on 1 January.
On that rate, a cab for up to four passengers would flag at £8.80 rather than £8.40, then 40p every 124 metres rather than 30p every 134.
How the figures were set
A hackney driver asked for a review in April 2026, citing lower fares than neighbouring councils and the cost of running a cab. The council emailed every hackney driver on 1 April. The informal consultation closed on 13 April, with 34 replies. Fares were last reviewed in 2025, using a method taken from Guildford.
The working figures include a driver allowance of £32,500, 41,250 miles a year, half of them without a passenger, and fuel at £1.81 a litre. On the council’s comparison, a two-mile daytime fare of £8.45 would sit below the £8.70 median it used for West Sussex. Arun is £9.50, Crawley £8.90 and Chichester £8.00.