Brighton & Hove City Council Cabinet is scheduled to consider a proposed revision to hackney carriage fares on 17 September 2026. The proposal would increase the benchmark daytime Tariff 1 fare for a two-mile journey from £8.70 to £9.30, but it has not yet been approved or brought into force.
The normal daytime Tariff 1 flag fall would remain £3. The proposal would, however, make the 30p distance increment apply every 160 yards rather than every 176 yards. The waiting-time interval would also reduce from 54 seconds to 36 seconds.
The council’s comparison places the proposed two-mile fare at £9.30, up by 60p, or 6.9 per cent, from the current £8.70. A one-mile Tariff 1 journey would rise from £5.70 to £6.00, while a 10-mile journey would increase from £32.70 to £35.70. The waiting-time charge would rise from £20 to £30 an hour.
The Cabinet report asks members to delegate determination of the current fare revision to the Corporate Director, City Operations, in consultation with the relevant Cabinet member. That decision would follow consideration of responses to an Equality Impact Assessment. The report also seeks delegated authority for future revised taxi fare tables, subject to the statutory process, unless Cabinet later changes or revokes that arrangement.
A four-week Equality Impact Assessment engagement exercise must conclude before a delegated decision can be made. If the council decides to proceed, section 65 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 requires the proposed variation to be published in a local newspaper. A minimum 14-day period for objections would then apply.
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If objections are received and remain unresolved, the council must consider them before setting a final fare table and commencement date. Any revised fares must begin no later than two months after the date specified in the notice.
The review followed a meeting on 28 May 2026 involving trade representatives, the chair of the Licensing Committee and council officers. The council says the trade cited inflation, fuel and insurance costs, maintenance and compliance costs, and the need to support drivers’ earnings. The report describes the proposed change as a 27.55 per cent increase since August 2019, below the 30 per cent CPI increase cited by the council for the period to March 2026.
In the council’s comparison, the current £8.70 two-mile Tariff 1 fare ranks 38th nationally. The proposed £9.30 fare would place Brighton & Hove joint 15th, alongside Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The fares would apply to rank and street-hail hackney carriage work, not pre-booked private-hire trips or school-transport contracts. Council officers say the authority sets hackney carriage fares but cannot set private-hire fares, although local operators have historically followed the hackney tariff. The council describes the tariff as a maximum metered fare; a higher charge is permitted only where it has been agreed in advance for a journey ending outside the city.
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