The £5 flag fare did not start on 20 August. Two objections stopped it, and councillors are asked on Monday to bring it in from 15 September instead.
Worcester’s taxi fare rise did not happen. The new table of fares was advertised to take effect on 20 August, and it has not. Two objections landed before the deadline, and under the law that stops the clock. (Worcester City Council, Hackney Carriage Table of Fares Objection Review, report to Licensing and Environmental Health Committee, 7 September 2026)
Councillors are now asked to bring the higher fares in from 15 September 2026. They meet at 7pm on Monday 7 September at the Guildhall. (Agenda, Licensing and Environmental Health Committee, 7 September 2026)
The unusual part is who objected. Both objections came from the taxi trade itself, and both oppose the increase.
The two objections
The council has published them in full, with names and badge numbers redacted.
- A licensed Worcester hackney carriage driver, writing on 13 August. He accepts fares should rise “due to high fuel prices, wear and tear on vehicles”, but says the proposal is “too high for normal customers” and will push people towards “alternative cheaper options like uber”. His suggested fix is to keep the starting price where it is and make the meter tick faster. (Appendix 3, Objection 1)
- The Chairman of the Worcester Taxi Association, writing at 10.23pm on 19 August, the closing day. He says the association surveyed its members, that the increase “has been rejected by a large number of the members”, and asks councillors directly to “dispose of this proposal”. (Appendix 4, Objection 2)
The association attached its survey. It is a poll asking drivers to vote YES if they are happy with the increase and NO if they are not. The result printed on it is 2 yes, 67 no.
That is a poll of the association’s own members, not a formal ballot of everyone licensed in the city. For scale, Worcester City Council currently licenses 219 hackney carriage vehicles and 313 dual drivers, alongside 59 private hire vehicles and 19 private hire drivers. (Appendix 1, WCC licences, Licensing Compliance and Enforcement Checks report, 7 September 2026)
What was actually advertised
The statutory notice went out on 5 August with a 19 August deadline for objections. It raised both tariffs.
| Charge | In force since May 2022 | As advertised |
|---|---|---|
| Tariff One, first 1,208m (the flag fare) | £4.30 | £5.00 |
| Tariff One, first mile equivalent | £5.00 | £5.60 |
| Tariff One, each subsequent mile | £2.00 | £2.00 |
| Tariff Two, first 1,208m (the flag fare) | £5.50 | £6.40 |
| Tariff Two, first mile equivalent | £6.30 | £7.10 |
| Tariff Two, each subsequent mile | £2.80 | £2.80 |
| Waiting time, per 30 seconds, both tariffs | 10p | 10p |
Sources: Appendix 1, the advertised notice and Appendix 2, the fare tables.
Tariff One runs 7am to midnight, Monday to Saturday. Tariff Two covers midnight to 7am, all day Sunday, bank holidays, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, and the evenings of Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
One detail in the first objection does not match the advert. The driver describes the starting price under Tariff One as £5.60. The advertised table sets the Tariff One flag fare at £5.00 for the first 1,208 metres, with £5.60 being the equivalent cost by the end of the first mile. The £6.40 he quotes for Tariff Two is the flag fare.
The two fare tables in the papers do not match
The report recommends that the table “as set out in Appendix 2” take effect on 15 September. Appendix 2 is a two-page document. Page one is the May 2022 table still in force. Page two is headed “DRAFT HACKNEY CARRIAGE FARE TARIFF JUNE 2026”.
That draft raises Tariff One to £5.00 and £5.60. It leaves Tariff Two unchanged at £5.50 and £6.30.
So the table the report points councillors at is not the table the public was consulted on. The advertised notice raises Tariff Two to £6.40 and £7.10. This is the same gap we flagged on 20 August, when the committee’s draft and the statutory notice disagreed about whether night and Sunday fares were going up at all. It has not been resolved in the papers for Monday.
The law does allow a change. Section 65(3) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 covers what happens when objections are made and not withdrawn. The council sets a further date, and the table may come into force “with or without modifications as decided by them after consideration of the objections”. The report does not describe Appendix 2 as a modification.
The deadline the council is working to
The same section sets a hard outer limit. The further date must be no later than two months after the date first specified. That date was 20 August, so 20 October 2026 is the latest the varied table can start. The proposed 15 September sits comfortably inside it.
What it means for you
- Fares have not gone up. The May 2022 table is still the maximum a Worcester hackney carriage can charge. The flag fare remains £4.30 by day and £5.50 at night and on Sundays.
- If Monday goes as recommended, the new maximums start on 15 September. A daytime journey of a mile would rise from £5.00 to £5.60.
- These are maximums, and they apply to hackney carriages only. Private hire firms agree their price with you when you book.
- You can speak at the meeting. It starts at 7pm on Monday 7 September at the Guildhall. The committee allows fifteen minutes in total for public representations, five minutes each, on anything on the agenda or within its remit.
- Always check the meter. The council’s own table states the meter must be used for every journey starting and finishing in the city, and no more than the metered fare may be charged.
More Worcester information: parking in Worcester, roadworks and travel and council tax bands.
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