Venue: Council Chamber
Contact: Joanne Dixon / Scott Bonner
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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 - 8 November 2021 PDF 130 KB Minutes: The minutes of the Licensning Committee held on 8 November 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. ** SUSPENSION OF
COUNCIL PROCEDURE RULE NO. 5 - ORDER OF BUSINESS At 1.00pm, neither applicant or driver was in attendance,
therefore, the Committee re-ordered the agenda to provide the applicant and
driver additional time in which to arrive. ORDERED: that in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 5, the Committee agreed to vary the order of business to consider the agenda items in the following order: 7, 6, 5. |
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Any other urgent items which in the opinion of the Chair, may be considered. Minutes: Potential Policy Change The Licensing Manager wished to bring to Members’ attention
a formal request received from a large private hire operator in relation to
potentially streamlining requirements and processes for new private hire
vehicle applicants. It was explained that, since the start of the Covid
pandemic, there was a national shortage of private hire vehicle drivers as many
had left the trade to take up other occupations and had not returned. This had resulted in customers waiting longer
for taxis and a subsequent increase in complaints regarding taxi
availability. It had also resulted in
many private hire vehicle operators having large numbers of vehicles not being
driven. The request from the taxi Company for the Council’s
consideration was to:- 1.
Abolish the topographical section of the
knowledge test (in line with Newcastle, North Tyneside, Sunderland,
Wolverhampton and other local authorities across the country). 2.
Consider delivering comprehensive training to
help applicants achieve the knowledge required to pass all other sections of
the test. 3.
Abolish the requirement for the independent
driving assessment as the Council had the ability to refer a driver for
training should they consider it necessary. The Licensing Manager highlighted that the topographical
part of the knowledge test was abolished in Sunderland recently without public
consultation and that some local authorities had only removed that part of the
knowledge test for private hire drivers as private hire operators now tended to
have sophisticated booking systems with Sat Nav which was not always the case
for Hackney Carriages. In relation to considering delivery of bespoke training for
applicants, it was explained that driver testing was previously delivered by
Officers and undertaken face to face, however, this testing had moved on-line
in Middlesbrough some time ago. The independent driver assessments were previously delivered
by the Driver Standards Agency who delivered a bespoke driver test across the
Tees Valley Local Authorities up until four years ago when the Government
abolished the test without consultation.
From that point the Tees Valley Local Authorities decided to keep the
test which was delivered by Hartlepool Council Road Safety Team on behalf of
the Tees Valley authorities. Those
authorities that did not maintain the independent test tightened up on the
rules around the number of penalty points a driver was able to accrue before
being required to complete a Driver Improvement Scheme. Should a decision be made to abolish the independent driver
assessment, Officers would propose that any driver accruing six penalty points
on their licence should be required to undertake the driver improvement scheme
and that any driver accruing seven to nine points should expect their licence
to be revoked. Officers had been working on reviewing the current Taxi
Licensing Policy as a result of new National Minimum Standards being introduced
and this was open to a full consultation process across all local
authorities. Middlesbrough was also
proposing amendments in two areas of the Policy – Proposed Changes to Vehicle
Age Policy and Proposed Changes to Window Tint Policy. Following a lengthy ... view the full minutes text for item 21/37 |
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Review of a Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence Ref 11/21 Minutes: 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: 11/21, 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 May 2019 and had no
previous convictions. The driver now appeared before Members following a complaint
made by a member of the public on 11 October 2021 in relation to an incident
involving the driver on 9 October 2021. The complaint related to a journey booked by the female
passenger using a taxi booking app with the driver’s operator prior to taking
the journey. The passenger pre-paid the
fare stated on the app and, whilst she considered it to be on the low side, she
did not question it as she had not travelled that journey before. During the actual journey, the passenger alleged that the
driver had become aggressive towards her, stating that the fare wrong and was
too low and that she needed to pay more.
He initially checked with his operator who told him that the fare was
correct and that he did not have to undertake the job if he did not want to. The driver had continued to complain to the
passenger about the fare and had shouted at her and told her to get out of the
vehicle if she was not willing to pay more.
The passenger refused as they were travelling on a dark country road and
she believed the fare to be correct and had already paid using the app. She had explained to the driver that she did
not carry cash with her to which he responded he would drive her to a
cashpoint. The passenger had again
refused and asked to be taken home but stated she felt scared. The driver stated he would ‘sort it out’ and
kept looking at his phone. The complainant stated that once they arrived at her home,
the driver informed her that the operator had added £4.50 to her fare. The complainant stated that she checked her
bank account and the amount of £11.70 had been taken by the taxi firm (an
additional £4.50 to the original fare). The complainant had telephoned her father when she got home
as she felt frightened and upset. Her
father had subsequently contacted the taxi operator who advised that the
additional money was charged due to two extra drop offs made on the
journey. A copy of the complaint was
attached at Appendix 1 and a copy of an email to the Licensing Officer from the
complainant’s father was attached at Appendix 2. The driver was interviewed ... view the full minutes text for item 21/38 |
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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. The Chair introduced those present and outlined the procedure to be followed. The driver, accompanied by his legal representative, 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 application. It was highlighted that applicant was previously licensed with Middlesbrough Council in 2006 but his licence was revoked in 2018 following his conviction for the offence at 2) in the report. The applicant appealed the decision, however, he was unsuccessful. The applicant now appeared with a fresh application which was due to be considered a the previous Licensing Committee, however, Members deferred consideration due to a request for further information in relation to the revocation decision and from the Council’s LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer). The applicant was interviewed by a Licensing Enforcement Officer on 27 August 2021 when he confirmed his previous explanations for the offences at 1) and 2) in the submitted report. At the Licensing Committee in June 2018, Members also considered further information provided by Cleveland Police in relation circumstances leading to the applicant’s conviction, attached at Appendix 1. This information raised safeguarding concerns and subsequent enquiries with the Council’s LADO revealed Social Services involvement. A meeting with the LADO was held in April 2018 and was also considered by the Committee at the time. A copy was attached at Appendix 2. On 16 November 2021, further enquiries were made with the LADO and it was confirmed that there had been no Social Services involvement since 2018. A copy of the Licensing Committee’s decision made in June 2018 to revoke the applicant’s licence was attached at Appendix 3. The report also contained information taken from Council records showing that the applicant was issued with warnings in relation to four separate complaints in 2009, 2016 and two in 2017. 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’s legal representative addressed the Committee in support of the application. The legal representative and the applicant responded to questions from Members and the Council’s legal representative. It was confirmed that there were no further questions and applicant, his legal representative 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 Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver ... view the full minutes text for item 21/39 |