Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting.

The Minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 15 March 2021 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 19 March 2021 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

To consider passing a Resolution Pursuant to Section 100A (4) Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1972 excluding the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the following items on the grounds that if present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information falling within paragraphs 1, 2 and 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

ORDERED that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that, if present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Director of Adult Social Care and Health Integration submitted an exempt report in connection with an application for a Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref: 04/21, where circumstances had arisen which required special consideration by the Committee.

The Chair introduced those present and outlined the procedure to be followed.  The applicant was in attendance at the meeting and verified his name and address and confirmed that he had received a copy of the report and understood its contents. 

The Licensing Manager presented a summary of the report in relation to the applicant’s convictions, detailed at 1) to 6) in the submitted report and made reference to the relevant sections of the Council’s Policy Guidance on Cautions, Convictions and Complaints.

The report highlighted that the applicant first licensed as a Private Hire driver with Middlesbrough Council in August 2018, however, in October 2019 a routine check of his DVLA licence revealed that he had nine penalty points on his licence.  In accordance with the Officers’ Scheme of Delegations, the applicant was required to undertake a Driver Improvement Scheme.  This was undertaken on 4 March 2020 and a copy of the trainer’s assessment was attached at Appendix 2.

Attached at Appendix 1 to the report was a copy of the check undertaken by Licensing Officers with the DVLA on 21 March 2021 along with a check undertaken by the applicant’s previous employer, on 26 March 2021, which shows details of the offences at 1) to 6) that led to his disqualification from driving.

In February 2020, the applicant appeared in Court and was disqualified from driving for six months for the first 12 penalty points and received a further disqualification for the remaining six penalty points.  It was highlighted that the applicant had failed to report the disqualification to the Licensing Office, as required by condition of his licence, and when asked why he had failed to do so he stated he was unaware of the requirement.  Council records showed that the applicant had correctly answered a question in relation to reporting convictions as part of the taxi driver’s knowledge test in June 2018.  He also failed to disclose these convictions in his latest application, a copy of which was attached at Appendix 3.

It was highlighted that Council records also showed that the applicant was stopped in October 2019 by Police and a Licensing Enforcement Officer in relation to his poor driving.  A copy of the correspondence in relation to this matter was attached at Appendix 4.

The applicant’s driving licence was reinstated by the DVLA in October 2020.

The applicant confirmed that the report was an accurate representation of the facts and was invited to address the Committee in support of his application.

The applicant addressed the Committee and responded to questions from Members, the Council’s legal representative and the Licensing Manager.

It was confirmed that there were no further questions and the applicant and officers of the Council, other than representatives of the Council’s Legal and Democratic Services,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20/30

Covid Regulations for Licensed Premises

At the request of the Chair, the Licensing Manager provided the Committee with an overview of the latest Covid regulations, guidance and restrictions relating to the operation of licensed premises.

As of today, 12 April 2021, licensed premises were able to re-open for outdoor trading.  In preparation for the latest step, the Government had relaxed certain licensing laws to make trading easier.  This included temporarily permitting those premises with an ‘on sales’ premises licence, to include ‘off sales’ to provide takeaway alcohol and pavement café licences.  Such temporary permissions were in place until September 2021.

The Committee was provided with information in relation to social distancing measures and regulations that premises must adhere to and details of checks and inspections that had been taking place by the Enforcement Team in advance of premises’ reopening and how this would be monitored.

NOTED