Agenda and draft minutes

To elect a Member to act as Chair of the meeting

The 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.

Councillors are invited to declare at this point any disclosable pecuniary 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 – Environment.

To consider the report to the General Licensing and Registration Sub-Committee and determine whether or not to grant the Applicant a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Combined Drivers’ Licence.

The Sub-Committee considered the written report and verbal presentation from the Licensing Enforcement Officer, who advised that on 27^th March 2023, an application for a combined driver’s licence was received from the Applicant. In that application, the Applicant declared that they had 6 points on their DVLA Licence from an offence dated ‘30 January 2023’. A Licence check carried out by the Licensing team revealed that the offence had in fact occurred on 7^th July 2022.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer advised that due to their personal circumstances, this application was not progressed by the Applicant until 10^th October 2023, when they were asked to complete a new application form. The Applicant at this point declared one offence with the correct date of 7^th July 2022. The Applicant went on to complete all parts of the application process by 21^st December 2023. Following the Council’s Christmas shut-down period, the Applicant then informed the Council on 3^rd January 2024 that they “had acquired 3 penalty points (SP50)”. When asked to complete and return a notification form to ensure that the Council had all of the relevant information, this revealed that the Applicant had also completed a Driver Awareness Course in lieu of points for an offence dated June 2020.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer advised that a check of the Applicant’s DVLA records confirmed 9 penalty points on their driver’s licence for the following offences:

SP50 26 September 2023 – Exceeding speed limit on a motorway (3 points)

TS10 26 September 2023 – Failing to comply with traffic light signals (0 points)

SP30 7 July 2022 – Exceeding statutory speed limit on a public road (6 points)

The Licensing Enforcement Officer reminded Members that before granting the application they should be satisfied that the Applicant was a ‘fit and proper person’ to hold a combined driver’s licence as detailed in the Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards issued by the Department of Transport.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer also referred Members to the North Yorkshire Council Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy, explaining that to grant this application would be departure from Policy which Members should only do if they were satisfied that the Applicant had shown specific circumstances to justify an exception to policy being made.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer reminded members of paragraph 505 of the policy in particular, which provides -

505. Applicants and licensed drivers with nine or more penalty points endorsed on their driving licence in any rolling three-year period will normally be refused or revoked and will not normally be granted a licence until at least three years have elapsed from the date of the last offence.

As the Applicant’s last offence took place on 26 September 2023, this means that under the Council’s policy, the earliest the Applicant would normally be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 143.