Agenda and minutes

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

The Minutes of the previous Licensing Committee held on 19 December 2022 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 an application for a  Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref: 01/23, 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, who was in attendance at the meeting accompanied by a representative, 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, outlining that the applicant appeared before Committee in relation to the offence detailed at 1). 

The applicant was interviewed by a Licensing Enforcement Officer on 22 February 2023 when he provided an explanation in relation to the offence at 1) and confirmed that there were no other offences of which the Council was unaware.

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 representative presented the case in support of the application and he and the applicant responded to questions from Members.

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, 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 Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref No: 01/23, be granted.

Authority to Act

1.           Under Section 51 of the Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1976 (“the Act”) the Committee may decide to grant a private hire vehicle driver’s licence only if it was satisfied the driver was a fit and proper person to be granted such a licence.

2.           The Committee considered Section 51 of the Act, Middlesbrough Council’s Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Policy 2022 (“the Policy”), the report and representations made by the applicant and his representative.

3.           The application was considered on its own particular facts and on its merits.

Decision

4.           After carefully considering all of the information, the Licensing Committee decided to grant the application for a Private Hire Vehicle driver’s licence on the grounds that it was satisfied the applicant was a fit and proper person to be granted such a licence.

Reasons

5.      The Policy requires a conviction-free period of at least 10 years for a conviction for an offence of violence.  The applicant accepted a caution for Affray on 29 January 2017 following a violent incident, therefore, the decision to grant the licence was a departure from the Policy. 

6.      The Committee considered there were good reasons to depart from the Policy in this case in that the applicant informed the Committee he only played a minor role in the incident which involved a family member  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22/28

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: 02/23, 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, 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, outlining that the applicant appeared before Committee as he had not resided in the UK for at least five years and was unable to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct from the last country in which he resided.  This was contrary to the Council’s Private Hire and Taxi Licensing Policy which included procedures for dealing with applications where the applicant had previously resided abroad.  Details regarding the relevant procedures were provided within the submitted report.

The Licensing Manager advised that, upon considering the application, it was revealed that the applicant had not been resident in the UK for a full five year period, having arrived in the UK in 2022.  Whilst the applicant’s DBS Disclosure Certificate revealed no previous convictions recorded against him, he was requested to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct from his country of origin, in line with the Council’s policy (as set out in the report).  However, the applicant had informed officers that he was unable to provide such a certificate in support of his application.

The applicant was subsequently interviewed by a Licensing Enforcement Officer on 22 February 2023 and explained that he had initially moved to the UK in 2004, from his country of origin, before moving from the UK in 2017 to another country.  In July 2022, the applicant decided to move back to the UK.  He stated he had no criminal or motoring convictions in either the UK or the country where he had previously resided (from 2017 to 2022).

The applicant he had been advised by the Embassy of the country he had previously resided in, that he would need a solicitor who lived in that country to represent him and that he would need to travel to the Embassy in London to submit his identity documents.   The applicant also stated he would be happy to go to the embassy to submit the documents so that his identity could be confirmed and the application started but he had also been advised that he would need someone who lived in the country he had previously resided in to travel to its capital to obtain documents from the local Council, Police and Home Office and that he did not know anyone who would do that for him.

The submitted report contained an extract of the information from the .gov website in relation to obtaining a Certificate of Good Conduct from that country.

The applicant confirmed that the report was an accurate representation of the facts  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22/29

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: 03/23, 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, 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, outlining that the applicant appeared before Committee in relation to the offence detailed at 1). 

The applicant was interviewed by a Licensing Enforcement Officer on 1 March 2023 when he provided an explanation in relation to the offence at 1) and confirmed that there were no other offences of which the Council was unaware.

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 presented the case in support of his application 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, 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 Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref No: 03/23, be granted.

Authority to Act

1.         Under Section 51 of the Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1976 (“the Act”) the Committee may decide to grant a Private Hire Vehicle driver’s licence only if it was satisfied the driver was a fit and proper person to be granted such a licence.

2.         The Committee considered Section 51 of the Act, Middlesbrough Council’s Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Policy 2022 (“the Policy”), the report and representations made by the applicant.

3.         The application was considered on its own particular facts and on its merits.

Decision

4.         After carefully considering all of the information, the Licensing Committee decided to grant the application for a Private Hire Vehicle driver’s licence on the grounds that it was satisfied the applicant was a fit and proper person to be granted such a licence.

Reasons

5.         The Policy required a conviction-free period of at least 7 years for a conviction for an offence of dishonesty.  The applicant accepted a caution for an offence of Theft by an Employee on 27 July 2017.   Therefore, the decision to grant the licence was a departure from the Policy. 

6.         The Committee considered there were good reasons to depart from the Policy in this case.  The police considered the appropriate sanction to be a caution rather than prosecution and the applicant accepted a caution for taking a laptop  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22/30