Agenda and minutes

To elect a Member to act as Chair of the meeting

Decision

That Councillor Tim Grogan be elected as Chair for the duration of the meeting.

(Councillor Grogan in the Chair)

There were no apologies for absence.

All Members are invited to declare at this point any interests they have in items appearing on this agenda, including the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the procedure to be followed at the meeting.

The decision

The Sub Committee agreed the procedure for the meeting as outlined by the Chair.

To consider passing a resolution under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 excluding the press and public from the meeting during consideration of item 6 on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

The decision

That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public were excluded from the meeting during consideration of the item of business at minute no 6 on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act as the Panel was satisfied that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

To receive a report from the Corporate Director of Environment.

The Licensing Sub-Committee considered the report and appendix of the Corporate Director of Environment which asked Members to determine whether or not to revoke or suspend a Dual Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver’s Licence.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer reminded Members of North Yorkshire Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy, which at paragraph 505 stated that applicants and licensed drivers with nine or more penalty points endorsed on their driving licence in any rolling three-year period would normally be refused or revoked and would not normally be granted a licence until at least three years had elapsed from the date of the last offence, unless there were exceptional circumstances that required a different approach.

In making their decision, Members considered the content of the report and appendix, the verbal presentation by the Licensing Enforcement Officer on behalf of the licensing authority, a verbal presentation by the licence holder, the relevant legislation and case law, the Council’s Taxi Licensing Policy and the statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards issued by the Department of Transport.

The Sub-Committee Members considered the licence holder to be an honest person who had a good track record as a licensed driver, who had apologised for their mistake and who had given an honest and transparent account to the Sub-Committee. The verbal representations and the circumstances leading to the penalty points had persuaded Members that an exception to policy should be made in this case.

Decision

Members were unanimous in their decision that there were grounds to depart from the Council’s Taxi Licensing Policy and that the licence holder was a fit and proper person within the meaning of sections 51 and 59 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, to hold a Dual Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver’s Licence, and therefore no further action need be taken.

However, Members wished to impress upon the licence holder the seriousness of their conduct and requested that the licence holder be issued with a written warning by the Licensing Authority which would be placed on their driving record for a period of twelve months from the date of the warning letter.