Agenda and draft minutes

Moved by Councillor Rita Turner and seconded by Councillor Will Fletcher

RESOLVED that Councillor Mary Dooley be elected as Chair for the meeting.

Councillor Mary Dooley 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 10^th April 2025.

Moved by Councillor Will Fletcher and seconded by Councillor Rita Turner

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the General Licensing Sub Committee held on 10^th April 2025 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)”.

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 via email (as requested).

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

The Sub Committee procedure was followed.

The Sub Committee was adjourned at 14:41 hours, and the Licence Holder, Licence Holder’s companion, Cllr. Jeanne Raspin and Licensing and Enforcement Officer left the room for Members to deliberate.

The Sub Committee reconvened at 15:00 hours, and the Licence Holder, Licence Holder’s companion 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 General 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 License Holder had been a licensed driver since September 2024, in that time they had:-

·       Received 9 penalty points on their DVLA licence for three speeding offences, one in September, and two in October 2024;

·       Completed a driver awareness course in relation to another incident of speeding in November 2024;

·       And was waiting to hear from the Court in respect of a further incident of speeding in April 2025.

The most recent, outstanding speeding offence placed the Licence Holder at risk of losing their DVLA licence.

2.     The Panel noted the Licence Holder’s verbal comments to the Sub Committee as well as their written submissions in respect of these speeding offences; that in 35 years of driving they had not received any penalty points until they had become a licensed taxi driver, they were new to the geographical area so was unaware of the speed limit, they were driving at night and / or in poor weather and that they were under pressure at home.  The Licence Holder had further informed the Panel that they always drove under the speed limit.  The Licence Holder told the Panel that they ‘[were] not wilfully or morally culpable for speeding’ but that they had ‘misjudged’ the speed limit.

3.     The Panel had significant concerns with the number of endorsements over such a short space of time, all during the course of the Licence Holder’s work carrying passengers.  The safety of the public was paramount and speeding placed people at risk of injury or worse.  It was a driver’s responsibility to know the speed limit of the road on which they were driving – the Licence Holder had fallen short of what was expected of a standard driver, let alone the expected standard of a licensed taxi driver responsible for carrying and safeguarding the public.

4.     The Licence Holder had failed to comply with the requirements of their Combined Licence Paragraphs 11.1 and 14.1 in respect of checking that (amongst other things) the CCTV was in working order and operational, this also fell afoul of the Council’s Taxi Policies.

5.     The Licence Holder told  ...  view the full minutes text for item GLSC6-25/26