Taxi and private hire licensing

Taxis or hackney carriages and private hire vehicles are licensed to ensure that they are suitable and safe for the carriage of the public.

Under the provisions of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 and Immigration Act 2016 you will need to apply for a licence for the following:

•    Hackney Carriage Driver
•    Private Hire Driver
•    Hackney Carriage Vehicle
•    Private Hire Vehicle
•    Private Hire Operator

A list of wheelchair accessible vehicles is available to view.

From 01 April 2023, we are the Licencing Authority for Private Hire operations.

We will not be applying zoning to private hire licences. Existing licences and future licences issued by us for Private Hire, will allow the vehicle, drivers, and operators to operate in any part of our area which includes the geographical areas of Barrow, Eden, and South Lakeland.

Hackney carriage licences, will continue to operate in zones.

Dual driver licences covering both Hackney Carriage and Private Hire, will apply across the whole district for Private Hire, but only in the issuing zone for Hackney Carriages.

Check another post code

Why you're going to a different website

As a new council we are in the process of adding information to this website. To give you the information you need some pages will link back to the old council websites.

About the council changes