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 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 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.

The Licensing Sub-Committee considered the report and appendices of the Corporate Director of Environment which asked the Sub-Committee to consider whether the licence holder was a fit and proper person to hold a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver’s Licence.

The options available to the Sub-Committee were

1. The Sub-Committee may conclude that the driver was not a fit and proper person to hold a licence, in which case, it should revoke the licence on the grounds of any reasonable cause^.

2. The Sub-Committee may conclude that the appropriate sanction should be something less than complete revocation. For instance, a suspension may, in the opinion of the Sub-Committee, constitute sufficient sanction to best serve the interests of the public. The Sub-Committee may therefore suspend the licence for a specified period of time on the grounds of any reasonable cause^.

3. The Sub-Committee may conclude that an informal reprimand would constitute sufficient sanction to best serve the interests of the public. The Sub-Committee may therefore decide to issue a written warning.

4. The Sub-Committee may conclude that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing, in which case, it may decide to take no action.

In making their decision, Members considered the content of the report and appendices, 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 acknowledged that the licence holder had experienced an oversight and accepted their admission of fault.  Having considered the licence holders verbal representations as to the circumstances, Members were persuaded that an exception to the policy was justified in this instance.

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 suspension or revocation should be made.

However, Members wished to impress upon the licence holder the seriousness of their conduct and requested that the licence holder be issued with a final 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.