Agenda and draft minutes

Moved by Councillor Anne Clarke and seconded by Councillor Will Fletcher

RESOLVED that Councillor Emma Stevenson be elected as Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Emma Stevenson in the Chair

There were no apologies for absence.

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 a General Licensing Sub Committee meeting held on 5^th December 2024.

Moved by Councillor Emma Stevenson and seconded by Councillor Anne Clarke

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the General Licensing Sub Committee held on 5^th December 2024 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 Will Fletcher and seconded by Councillor Anne Clarke

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 Chair opened the meeting and welcomed those in attendance.

The Licence Holder was in attendance, who confirmed receipt of the paperwork.

The Licensing and Enforcement Officer presented the report to the Sub Committee.

The Licence Holder had held a combined Hackney Carriage / Private Hire Vehicle Driver’s Licence with the Council since 11^th October 2024.  A copy of the licence was attached at Appendix 1.

On 16^th December 2024, the Licensing Team were informed by the Licence Holder’s Private Hire Operator (the ‘Operator’) that they had received a complaint alleging the Licence Holder had carried out an inappropriate conversation, of a sexual nature, with a lone passenger.

The original complaint was made to the Operator via a telephone call from an individual who identified themselves as the partner of the passenger.  A copy of the complaint was attached at Appendix 2.  An audio recording of the complaint was sent to the Licensing Team.  The Sub Committee listened to this audio recording.

On 16^th December 2024, the Operator provided a copy of the CCTV footage from the vehicle.  The Environmental Health Team Manager noted the full CCTV footage should be viewed by the Sub Committee to provide context (only footage of the event was initially provided).

The Sub Committee was adjourned at 10:15 hours while this footage was located.

The Sub Committee readjourned at 10:19 hours and the full CCTV footage was viewed.

On 17^th December 2024, the Licence Holder was interviewed by the Council’s Licensing and Enforcement Officers.  The Licence Holder had been given the opportunity to explain their actions.  The Licence Holder stated they had not flirted but had asked a question.  They had also apologised and stated there had been no ulterior motive.  A copy of this meeting’s notes was attached at Appendix 3.

On 18^th December 2024, the Licensing Team made contact with the passenger for their account of the incident.  The passenger explained that they were having what they considered to be a normal conversation, but the Licence Holder had suddenly changed the subject and asked what the best way was to compliment a woman.  The conversation then took another turn when the Licence Holder had started talking inappropriately about sexual references which were considered normal where they were from.

While still on the journey, the passenger had quickly messaged their partner to tell them what was happening.  The partner had then called to provide the pretence that they were waiting at home for the passenger – the passenger was travelling home alone, and they did not want the Licence Holder to be aware of this.

The passenger explained that as they were alone, they had felt ‘really uncomfortable’ and ‘very worried about what might happen’, because if the Licence Holder had decided to try and do anything, the passenger would not have been able to get the Licence Holder off them.

The passenger confirmed she had notified the police and had a Crime Reference number.  The passenger was currently  ...  view the full minutes text for item GLSC12--24/25

The Chair opened the meeting and welcomed those in attendance.

The Licence Holder was in attendance, who confirmed receipt of the paperwork.

The Licensing and Enforcement Officer presented the report to the Sub Committee.

The Licence Holder had held a combined Hackney Carriage / Private Hire Vehicle Driver’s Licence with the Council since 23^rd September 2021.  Their most recent licence expired on 22^nd September 2027.  A copy of the licence was attached at Appendix 1.

On 23^rd August 2024, the Licence Holder had emailed the Licensing Team to advise they had received a fixed penalty of £100 and 3 points on their DVLA driving licence.  A copy of this email was attached at Appendix 2.

The Licence Holder’s email notification was dated 23^rd August 2024, and had been received 27 days after the offence date of 27^th July 2024.  The Licence Holder stated they were aware of their responsibility to notify the Council, and that they had attempted to call in to provide notification of the offence.  At the time, they had also been going through some personal issues.  As a result, there had been a delay in their informing the Council of the offence.

Following receipt of the notification, a DVLA check was requested and on 5^th

November 2024, the DVLA check revealed the following offences:

The full DVLA check was attached at Appendix 3.

The accrual of the latest 3 points took the Licence Holder to a total of 9 points on their DVLA driving licence.

A check of the Licence Holder’s history had been completed and revealed they had previously been issued with a warning letter for failure to disclose two previous offences.  The offences were revealed on 25^th January 2023 during a routine interim check of the Licence Holder’s DVLA driving licence.

The warning letter reminded the Licence Holder of their responsibility to notify the Council of any conviction for an offence or of any receipt of a fixed penalty within 7 days.  A copy of the letter was attached at Appendix 4.

The Licensing and Enforcement Officer referred the Sub Committee to sections 1.1 to 1.3 of Appendix B of the Policy, which outlined the general principles for assessing if a licence holder could be considered ‘Fit and Proper’.  These were detailed in the report.

With no questions of the Licensing and Enforcement Officer, the Licence Holder was invited to address the Sub Committee.

The Licence Holder explained during the 2022 offences, their granddaughter had been diagnosed with Leukaemia and had begun treatment.  They had thrown themselves into their work to distract but also, as the primary breadwinner, was undertaking 12-14 hour shifts to afford extra outlays including travel to Pontefract Hospital  ...  view the full minutes text for item GLSC13--24/25