Agenda and minutes

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

The minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 29 November 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, 3 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 the review of Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref: 12/21, where circumstances had arisen which required special consideration by the Committee.

The Chair introduced those present and outlined the procedure to be followed.  The driver, who was in attendance at the meeting, 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.  It was highlighted that the driver was first licensed with Middlesbrough Council in November 2015 had no previous convictions recorded.

The driver appeared before Committee for review of his licence following information received from Stockton Council regarding CCTV footage of an incident on 11 November 2021 involving the driver.  The CCTV Control Room had been monitoring a male making repairs to his vehicle in a residential street, when a second male was identified to be dealing drugs to the taxi driver.

The driver was interviewed by a Licensing Enforcement Officer on 25 November 2021 where he was shown the CCTV footage and asked to explain the circumstances.  The driver provided an explanation of events and stated that he had earlier picked up the male as a passenger in his vehicle and dropped him off at the location shown in the footage, however, the driver had no change for the fare and stated he had continued to drive to a convenience store further down the road to obtain some change and had driven back to provide the passenger with the change and that this was the transaction taking place in the footage.  The driver confirmed that it was his vehicle in the footage and that he was the driver.

The driver’s Private Hire Operator confirmed that there was no record of a booking for the journey that the driver stated had taken place and whilst the driver denied any involvement in drugs, he did admit to illegally plying for hire.  A copy of the Operator’s booking records for the driver were attached at Appendix 1.  The driver was interviewed in accordance with PACE in relation to the illegal plying for hire and a copy of the transcript of the interview was attached at Appendix 2.

A copy of the motor insurance certificate covering the vehicle shown in the CCTV footage on 11 November 2021 was provided by the driver’s Operator and was attached at Appendix 3.

As the plying for hire took place in Stockton, all of the relevant information had been referred to Stockton Council for them to consider enforcement action against the driver.

During the driver’s interview with the Licensing Enforcement Officer on 25 November 2021, he agreed to undertake a drug detection test.  A copy of the test results were attached at Appendix 4 and showed the driver had tested negative.

In addition, Council records showed that in July 2020, information was received from Cleveland Police stating that the driver was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21/43

The Committee was informed that the driver had contacted the Licensing Office prior to the meeting to advise that he was unable to attend due to illness.

ORDERED that consideration of the review of Combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref No: 13/21, be deferred to the next meeting of the Licensing Committee on 10 January 2022 to allow the driver a further opportunity to attend.

The Director of Adult Social Care and Health Integration submitted an exempt report in connection with an application to reinstate Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref: 14/21, where circumstances had arisen which required special consideration by the Committee.

The Chair introduced those present and outlined the procedure to be followed.  The driver, who was in attendance at the meeting, 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 application to reinstate the driver’s Private Hire Vehicle driver’s licence.

It was highlighted that the driver first appeared before Members in August 2015 when Members granted him a Private Hire Vehicle driver licence after considering the offence detailed at 1) in the report.  The driver’s latest licence was currently suspended and was due to expire on 31 August 2022.

The applicant now appeared before Members to consider the reinstatement of his licence which was suspended with immediate effect by the Licensing Manager on 10 March 2020 following information received from Cleveland Police.

On 9 March 2020 information was received from Cleveland Police that the driver had been arrested for the alleged offence of ‘Kidnap’ and ‘Sexual Assault on a Female’ and that he was released under investigation whilst enquiries were ongoing.

The Licensing Managed contacted the driver in relation to the matter on 10 March 2020 when he explained the circumstances of the allegations.  A record of this conversation was attached at Appendix 1.

Also on 10 March 2020, the Licensing Manager suspended the driver’s licence with immediate effect until such time as the matter was investigated by the Police and referred to the Licensing Committee for Members to determine the status of his licence.

On 2 October 2020, Cleveland Police confirmed that no further action would be taken against the driver in relation, however, the Licensing Manager advised that the reason for the delay in bringing the matter to Committee was due to difficulties in obtaining additional information from Cleveland Police.  The information was eventually provided on 9 December 2021 and was provided at Appendix 4.

In relation to the offence detailed at 1) in the report, it was noted that the driver was interviewed by a Licensing Enforcement Officer on 5 November 2020 when he provided an explanation in relation to the offence and also confirmed his previous explanations for two previous warnings issued to him.  Copies of the warnings issued in January and November 2018 were attached at Appendix 2 and Appendix 3 respectively.  The driver also provided his version of events in relation to the incident on 6 March 2020.

The driver confirmed that the report was an accurate representation of the facts and was invited to address the Committee.  The driver presented his case and responded to questions from Members, the Licensing Manager and the Council’s legal representative.  

It was confirmed that there were no further questions and driver and Officers of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21/45