Taxi and private hire licensing in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

What does the licensed trade in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole actually look like?

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole licenses 893 vehicles as at 1 April 2024 — 434 hackney carriages and 459 private hire vehicles.

The fleet splits fairly evenly between the two trades. That is the awkward middle: drivers move between rank work and booked jobs during a shift, so availability is genuinely uncertain unless something tracks it.

A fleet in this range is past the point where one controller sees everything at once, but not yet big enough to absorb a bad half-hour without customers noticing.

1,207 driver licences are in force against those 893 vehicles, or 1.35 drivers per vehicle. Some vehicles run more than one driver, so shift patterns bear on availability as much as the plate count does.

Is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole over- or under-supplied with licensed vehicles?

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole licenses 2.22 taxis and private hire vehicles per 1,000 residents, against a median of 2.62 across the 292 authorities in the same return — 15 per cent below the national midpoint.

Licensed supply is below the national midpoint, so peak demand routinely exceeds available vehicles. The operational win is honest quoting and declining work you cannot service, not more marketing spend.

Against its own region the fleet is denser than typical: the South West median is 2.14 per 1,000 residents.

Town and city demand of this kind is steady rather than spiky, and much of the dependable income comes from contract work: school runs, hospital appointments, account journeys.

What booking records does Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole require an operator to keep?

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole requires a licensed private hire operator to record 12 of the 12 booking details the DfT surveys: passenger name, time the booking was made, date the booking was made, pick-up time, pick-up date, pick-up point, main destination, driver name, driver licence number, vehicle registration, name of the booker and dispatcher name.

This is close to the strictest record-keeping regime in the survey — very nearly every booking field the DfT asks about is mandatory here.

Which vehicle standards apply in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole?

On vehicles, hackney carriages are held to an emissions standard and private hire vehicles to an emissions standard.

In-vehicle CCTV is permitted but not required here, so it stays an operator decision rather than a licence condition.

Daily roadworthiness checks are a condition in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, so there is a per-vehicle, per-day record to produce on request.

What does it take to licence a new driver in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole?

Before a new driver in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole can be sent a job, background screening is enhanced dbs and barred list checks, a topographical or navigational assessment must be passed, drivers must meet a minimum spoken and written English standard, safeguarding training covering child sexual exploitation and county lines is required and disability awareness training is mandatory.

How much accessible capacity does Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole have?

5.7 per cent of the licensed fleet in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is wheelchair accessible — 41 hackney carriages and 10 private hire vehicles.

That is a thin accessible share, so accessible bookings need planning rather than absorbing, and one vehicle off the road materially cuts capacity.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole publishes a list of designated wheelchair-accessible vehicles, which brings its drivers within section 165 of the Equality Act 2010.

Where does Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole differ from the typical licensing authority?

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole departs from the majority answer on 3 of the surveyed licensing policies.

Caps hackney carriage licence numbers: "For some (but not all) areas" here, against "No" for 74 per cent of authorities.

Requires daily PHV roadworthiness checks: "Yes" here, against "No" for 50 per cent of authorities.

Hackney topographical assessment: "Both" here, against "Topological" for 65 per cent of authorities.