A PLEA for taxi drivers in East Lothian to come together and establish a new association has been made as the local authority approved new licence fees for the trade.

East Lothian Council’s Labour administration cabinet today approved a revised list of licence charges which will see taxi and private hire drivers pay more, as well as window cleaners and short-term let operators.

During the meeting, cabinet member Councillor Colin McGinn appealed to the county’s taxi drivers to step forward and make sure that their views were heard over future fees.

He said: “In the years I have been on the licensing sub-committee, I have been calling for a taxi driver association in East Lothian to help the council understand their needs.

“It is in their interest and I am making a plea to drivers and taxi owners to come forward. I am sure we could help get one up and running.”

Cabinet gave the go-ahead to changes to licence fees which were proposed after comparing costs with other local authorities.

Window cleaner's licence costs increase

It means that the cost of a window cleaner’s licence will increase from £89 a year to £207, with private hire driver licences set to increase from £149 to £259 and taxi cab drivers facing a rise from £149 to £207.

Cabinet also approved an alternative three-year licence for taxi drivers, window cleaners and some traders which will cost £310 and will be available after they have held a one-year licence, which could reduce future costs.

The cost of a short-term let licence in East Lothian will treble from £390 to £1,067 for five people or less, increasing with the number of guests.

The new fee is the same as one approved for a zoo or a sex entertainment venue.

A report on the review said that the initial short-term let licence fee was an estimate ahead of changes to legislation, which made them a requirement.

It said: “The fee review ensures that each particular licence is not either subsidising or being subsidised by the fees for other licences.

“Accordingly, the proposed fees for a number of licences have decreased while others have been increased. In particular, the fees calculated for short-term let licensing applications have significantly increased.

“These costs have been increased as we now have experience of the actual cost and complexity of processing these licences, together with the cost incurred as a result of an environmental health officer inspecting the premises.

“The initial fee for these applications had to be set in advance of the new statutory regime coming into force and was based on a best estimate of the time that was believed it would take to process applications, notwithstanding that the regime and applications had not been received at that point.

“Since then, we have now had experience of processing these applications and the time required to take these though to determination.”