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 confirmed receipt of the paperwork.

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

The Sub Committee procedure was followed.

The Sub Committee was adjourned at 10:50 hours, and the Licence Holder, Environmental Health Team Manager and Licensing and Enforcement Officer left the room for Members to deliberate.

The Sub Committee reconvened at 11:43 hours, and the Licence Holder, Environmental Health Team Manager and Licensing and Enforcement Officer returned to the meeting.

The Chair invited the Legal Team Manager to set out in summary the Sub Committee’s decision.

The Legal Team Manager stated the decision of the Licensing Sub Committee was: to REVOKE the combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver’s Licence WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT.

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

1.     In relation to the complaint received in December 2024, the Panel listened to the complaint made to the Licence Holder’s Operator and viewed the CCTV footage of the entire journey taken from inside the Licence Holder’s taxi.

2.     The CCTV footage showed the Licence Holder conversing with a lone passenger.  For the first (approximate) 6 minutes of the journey, the conversation was ‘small talk’ about Leeds and other areas in the UK, as well as holiday destinations and pricing.  At just after 6 minutes of the journey, after a pause in the conversation, the Licence Holder asked, “what’s the nicest compliment to give to a lady?” – this part of the conversation went on for around 3.5 minutes and included discussions about online dating.

3.     At approximately 9 minutes and 25 seconds into the journey, the Licence Holder said, “I was asking one lady what does stop mean”.  The Licence Holder then continued talking about performing oral sex on a female, and stated, “where I am from stop doesn’t mean stop [laughs] stop means continue… if she says stop and she’s still there it’s more like she’s telling you, you be the one to initiate this not me, that’s the information she’s trying to pass to you”.  The conversation continued with the Licence Holder talking about initiating sex.  Shortly after this, the passenger interrupted and said they needed to take a phone call – they continued talking on the phone for the remainder of the journey.

4.     The Panel noted that the telephone call taken by the passenger had been arranged via text with their partner as they;

                          i.          Felt uncomfortable with the conversation;

                        ii.          Did not want the Licence Holder to believe they was arriving to an empty home / alone; and,

                       iii.          They were fearful the Licence Holder would try something and the passenger was alone and would not able to do anything.

            It was noted the passenger had reported the matter to the Police after             the journey had ended.

5.     The Panel listened to the Licence Holder’s explanation that nothing was meant by the conversation – they believed it to  ...  view the full minutes text for item GLSC12--24/25

The Chair opened the meeting and welcomed those in attendance.

The Licence Holder confirmed receipt of the paperwork.

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

The Sub Committee procedure was followed.

The Sub Committee was adjourned at 12:04 hours.  The Licence Holder, Environmental Health Team Manager and Licensing and Enforcement Officer left the room for Members to deliberate.

The Sub Committee reconvened at 12:31 hours.  The Licence Holder, Environmental Health Team Manager and Licensing and Enforcement Officer returned to the meeting.

The Chair invited the Legal Team Manager to set out in summary the Sub Committee’s decision.

The Legal Team Manager stated the decision of the Licensing Sub Committee was: to allow the combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver’s Licence to continue with a strict warning as to future conduct.

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

1.     The Licence Holder had held a combined licence with the Council since September 2021.

2.     Historically, the Licence Holder had received a written warning in January 2023 after they had failed to disclose two endorsements on their DVLA licence, i.e.:

                          i.          SP30 in May 2022 (3 points); and,

                        ii.          SP30 in August 2022 (3 points).

            That warning letter reminded the Licence Holder of the obligations of             their licence, requiring that they notify the Council within 7 days of any             conviction of any offence or on receipt of a Fixed Penalty.  The warning             letter went on to state that further offences/breaches could result in             suspension, revocation or referral to the Sub Committee.

3.     On 23^rd August 2024, the Licence Holder had emailed the Licensing Section to advise that they had received a Fixed Penalty of £100 and 3 points endorsed on their DVLA driving licence.  The Fixed Penalty was for an offence on 27^th July 2024.

4.     The notification of this July 2024 Fixed Penalty was again outside of the obligation to notify within 7 days of receipt.

5.     Furthermore, the July 2024 endorsement now meant that the Licence Holder had 9 points on their DVLA driving licence.

6.     When questioned, the Panel were concerned with the Licence Holder’s response that all 9 points had been awarded on journeys carrying passengers, i.e., in the course of business.

7.     The Panel accepted the Licence Holder’s explanation for why they had failed to report the endorsements in 2022.

8.     The Panel felt that the Licence Holder accepted the seriousness of the failure to notify, and the amount of points now / currently on their DVLA licence.

9.     The Panel gave a strict final warning to the Licence Holder – this warning was to remain on their driver record indefinitely.  It was made clear to the Licence Holder that;

-        All notifications to the Council (in compliance with the requirements of the Combined Licence and the Council’s Policies) must be made in writing within the requisite 7 days of receipt – failure to do so would result in a further Sub  ...  view the full minutes text for item GLSC13--24/25