Agenda item

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report.

The Director of Neighbourhoods and Environmental Services submitted a report concerning the application for a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver’s Licence.

The applicant was present at the meeting. The Licensing Team Manager and Legal Adviser to the Sub-Committee were also present.

Introductions were made and the Chair outlined the procedure for the meeting to those present.

The Licensing Team Manager outlined the details of the application, including the relevant City Council Policy Guidelines and drew Members’ attention to the caution detailed in the report. It was noted that the reason the application was brought before the Sub-Committee was due to the nature of the caution.

The applicant set out the reasons why he ought to be considered a fit and proper person to continue to hold a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver’s Licence and answered questions from Members.

The applicant was then given the opportunity to sum up and make any final comments.

The Sub-Committee received legal advice from the Legal Adviser to the Sub-Committee in the presence of all those present.

In reaching their decision, Members felt they should deliberate in private on the basis that this was in the public interest, and as such outweighed the public interest of their deliberation taking place with the parties represented present.

The Legal Adviser to the Sub-Committee, the Licensing Team Manager and the applicant then withdrew from the meeting.

The Sub-Committee gave the application full and detailed consideration.

The Legal Adviser to the Sub-Committee then returned to the meeting to advise Members on the wording of their decision.

The Licensing Team Manager and the applicant then returned to the meeting.

The Chair of the Sub-Committee explained to all persons present that they had recalled the Legal Adviser to the Sub-Committee for advice on the wording of their decision.

RESOLVED:

That the application for the grant of a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver’s Licence be REFUSED.

REASON FOR THE DECISION

The Sub-Committee had carefully considered the committee report placed before them and had taken into account the oral and written representations. The Sub-Committee stated they had considered the case on its own merits. They added that the safety of the travelling public was their main priority and having heard all of the representations they made the decision that the applicant was not a fit and proper person to grant a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver’s Licence.

The Sub-Committee said that having considered the Council’s Policy Guidelines on criminal convictions, they concluded that no driver who had accepted a caution in relation to an offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 should hold a licence. It was the Sub-Committees’ view that a caution with regard to a sexual offence should be taken very seriously.

The Sub-Committee added that having heard all of the representations, they would not allow someone that they cared for to travel alone in a vehicle driven by the applicant at any time of the day or night.

The applicant was informed he would have 21 days to appeal the decision to the Magistrates Court.