Agenda and draft minutes

Moved by Councillor Rita Turner and seconded by Councillor Sally Renshaw. RESOLVED that Councillor Emma Stevenson be elected as Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Emma Stevenson in the Chair

There were no apologies for absence.

To note any urgent items of business which the Chair has consented to being considered under the provisions of Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no urgent items of business to consider.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a) any business on the agenda

b) any urgent additional items to be considered

c) any matters arising out of those items

and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations of interest made.

To consider the minutes of the General Licensing Sub Committee meeting held on 5 October 2023.

Moved by Councillor Rita Turner and seconded by Councillor Sally Renshaw. RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the General Licensing Sub Committee held on 5th October 2023, be approved as a true and correct record.

To move:-

“That the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following items of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1, Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006)”.

Moved by Councillor Emma Stevenson and seconded by Councillor Rita Turner. RESOLVED that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the stated Paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and it is not in the public interest for that to be revealed.

The applicant attended the meeting for Committee to consider whether he is ‘fit and proper’ to hold a hackney carriage/private hire vehicle driver’s license. Also in attendance, one of the applicant’s office managers.

The Chair opened the meeting and welcomed those in attendance. Introductions followed, with Councillor David Bennett staying as an observer.

The Chair proceeded to ask if the applicant received all their paperwork – they had.

The Licensing Officer was then invited to present their report.

The hearing procedure was followed.

The applicant, their office manager, and the Licensing Officer left the meeting at 10:32 hours whilst Committee deliberated. They then returned for the announcement of the decision.

The following edited text is from the Chartered Legal Executive’s decision letter.

The decision of the Licensing Sub-Committee was to REVOKE the combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver’s Licence.

The Sub-Committee made findings of fact and gave the following reasons as follows:

1.        The Panel considered the representations and submissions made by the applicant in relation to the failure to notify the Licensing Authority of speeding offences on two separate occasions dated 13.05.2023 and 29.02.2020. In relation to the speeding offence dated 29.02.2020 the applicant admitted they had not informed the Authority as they had forgotten. In relation to the speeding offence dated 13.05.2023, the applicant stated that they had informed the Licensing Authority by way of a telephone call. The applicant stated they could not remember the date of the telephone call but thought they had spoken to the Authority’s Licensing Manager, but the applicant could not be certain of this and the Panel did not have any supporting evidence that the applicant informed the Licensing  Authority by telephone.

2.        The Panel accepted that although the applicant had notified the Licensing Authority about the speeding offence dated 16.08.2023 by way of an email dated 18.09.2023, the notification was not within 7 days as was required by Condition 4.7 of the Authority’s Private Hire Driver’s Licence Conditions.

3.        The Panel considered the applicant’s comments about the total of 9 points on their licence and the speeding offences they had received – stating that they were a safe driver and that they had ‘just been unlucky’. The applicant stated their job involved transporting music professionals around the Country and they regularly travelled throughout the Country. They said that speeding restrictions on roads often changed, and this made it more difficult when driving on unfamiliar roads.

4.        The Panel heard that the applicant had some mitigating circumstances in that the applicant said their friend’s mother had died recently, but the Panel did not accept this was an exceptional circumstance and therefore it did not justify a departure from the Authority’s Taxi Licensing Policy.

5.        The Panel considered the number, type and frequency of speeding offences, noting the last 2 speeding offences dated 13.05.2023 and 16.08.2023 occurred within 6 months of each other. In addition, the speeding offence dated 16.08.2023 had occurred within the previous 6 months.

6.        The Panel asked themselves  ...  view the full minutes text for item GLSC29--23/24