Venue: Council Chamber
Contact: Joanne Dixon / Scott Bonner
No. | Item |
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Declarations of Interest To receive
any declarations of interest. Minutes: There were
no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting. |
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Minutes - Licensing Committee - 18 October 2021 PDF 150 KB Minutes: The minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 18 October 2021 were submitted and approved as a correct record. |
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Exclusion of Press and Public 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. Minutes: 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. |
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Application for a combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence Ref: 08/21 Minutes: The Director of Adult Social Care and Health Integration submitted an exempt report in connection with an application for a Combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref: 08/21, where circumstances had arisen which required special consideration by the Committee. It was highlighted that the matter had been due to be considered by the Committee at is previous meeting, however, Members deferred consideration of the matter pending further information being provided. The Licensing Manager advised that the applicant was in attendance, however, the applicant had not informed his legal representative of the meeting. Contact had been made with his legal representative and a short adjournment was requested to wait for him to arrive. The applicant’s legal representative subsequently arrived and wished to address the Committee. The applicant’s legal representative explained that he had not been advised of the meeting date and time and had not had the opportunity to prepare and, therefore, requested that the Committee defer the matter to the next meeting. ORDERED that consideration of the application for a Combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle driver licence, Ref No 08/21, be deferred to the next meeting of the Licensing Committee on 29 November 2021, to allow the applicant the opportunity to be legally represented. |
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Application for a combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence Ref: 09/21 Minutes: The Director of Adult Social Care and Health Integration submitted an exempt report in connection with an application for a Combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref: 09/21, 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,
accompanied by his wife, 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. It was highlighted that the
applicant had previously been licensed with Middlesbrough Council for
approximately 15 years until he surrendered his licence in 2015 as a result of
the convictions detailed at 1) in the report. Members were informed that the applicant was a Hackney
Carriage proprietor and continued to hold a Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licence
which allowed him to hire the vehicle to other licensed drivers. Whilst the Council no longer held records in relation to the
applicant’s previous driver licence history, minutes from the Licensing
Committee held in April 2009 showed that the applicant’s licence was suspended,
due to an accumulation of penalty points, until he successfully completed the
Driver Improvement Scheme. The applicant
stated that he completed the course within weeks and continued to hold a
Hackney Carriage Driver Licence until he surrendered it in 2015 following his
convictions. The applicant submitted a fresh application which was
considered by the Licensing Committee in December 2018, but was refused on that
occasion. It was highlighted that the
report stated the reasons for the refusal were contained at Appendix 1, however,
this had been omitted in error.
Subsequently a copy of the decision letter with reasons and minutes from
the December 2018 meeting were obtained and made available to Members and the
Council’s Legal Representative. The Council’s Legal Representative summarised the reasons
for the refusal in December 2018 for the Committee’s consideration and the
applicant provided clarification in relation to queries raised in connection to
the reasons for refusal. 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 in support of the
application and provided a character reference.
He responded to questions from Members and the Council’s legal
representative. The applicant’s wife
also spoke in support of the applicant. It was confirmed that there were no further questions and
applicant, his wife and Officers of the Council, other than representatives of
the Council’s Legal and Democratic Services, withdrew from the meeting whilst
the Committee determined the application.
Subsequently, all parties returned and the Chair announced a
summary of the Committee’s decision and highlighted that the applicant would
receive the full decision and reasons within five working days. ORDERED that the
application for a Combined Private Hire Vehicle and Hackney Carriage Driver
Licence, Ref No: 09/21, be granted, as follows:- Authority to act ... view the full minutes text for item 21/32 |
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Any other urgent items which in the opinion of the Chair, may be considered. Minutes: Reporting of Offences The Licensing Manager provided the Committee with an update following on from the discussion that took place at the previous meeting in relation to Members’ concerns around a number of licensed drivers failing to report offences to the Licensing Office. The Licensing Manager confirmed that there were three occasions whereby applicants were advised of the requirement to report any cautions or convictions to the Council, in writing, within seven days. It was highlighted that the application process was completed on-line and included a ‘tick box’ that must be checked by applicants to confirm that they understood the requirement to report any cautions or convictions. All applicants must complete a knowledge test in order to obtain their licence and one of the questions that formed part of the test was for applicants to explain what they should do if they received a caution or conviction. Applicants could not pass the knowledge test without answering this question correctly. Furthermore, once an applicant obtained their licence, a list of driver licence conditions was provided to them which included the requirement to report any cautions or convictions, in writing, within seven days. The list of conditions was provided each time the licence was renewed. Complaints The Licensing Manager advised that the Licensing Office had received a number of complaints from members of the public regarding the availability of taxis and experiencing long waiting times for private hire vehicles. This was a trend being seen nationally and regionally. One of the reasons for this was that many drivers had left the trade due to Covid and had not returned. Complaints had also been received in relation to price increases for private hire fares. The Licensing Manager explained that the Council had no authority over setting private hire fares and that this was set by the private hire operators. The Council was only responsible for setting fares in respect of Hackney Carriages. |