Agenda item

The Director of Environment and Community Services submitted an exempt report in connection with the review of Combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref: 06/25, 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 he had received a copy of the report and understood its contents. 

 

The Principal Licensing Officer presented a summary of the report stating that the driver was first licensed with Middlesbrough Council in 1998.  Historically, he had appeared before the Licensing Committee in February 2005 due to three offences being recorded against him.  On that occasion his licence was suspended for one month.

 

The driver again appeared before the Licensing Committee in May 2006 due to a further conviction and on that occasion was permitted to retain his licence.

 

The driver now appeared before the Committee as a result of the convictions detailed at 3) and 4) in the submitted report.

 

It was confirmed that whilst the driver had notified the Licensing Office of the offence at 4), he had failed to do so within 48 hours as required by condition on his licence.  As a result, Officers carried out a routine check on the status of the driver’s DVLA licence on 5 February 2025 which revealed the motoring offences detailed at 3) and 4) in the report and resulting in nine penalty points on his DVLA licence.  There were no records of the driver notifying the Licensing Office of the offence at 3) which was further breach of the condition on his licence.

 

The driver was interviewed by a Licensing Enforcement Officer on 6 February 2025, by telephone, when he provided an explanation in relation to the offences at 3) and 4).

 

The driver confirmed the content of the report as being an accurate representation of the facts and was invited to address the Committee in support of his case.

 

The driver addressed the Committee and responded to questions from Members of the Committee.

 

It was confirmed that there were no further questions and the driver, and Officers of the Council, other than representatives of the Council’s Legal and Democratic Services teams, withdrew from the meeting whilst the Committee determined the review. 

 

Subsequently, all parties returned, and the Chair announced a summary of the Committee’s decision and highlighted that the driver would receive the full decision and reasons within five working days.

 

ORDERED that Combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref No: 06/25, be revoked, as follows:-

 

Authority to Act

 

1.     Under Section 61 of the Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1976 (“the Act”) the Committee may revoke or suspend a Private Hire/Hackney Carriage Vehicle driver’s licence on the grounds that:-

 

2.     Since the grant of the licence, the driver had been convicted of an offence involving dishonesty, indecency or violence;

 

3.     Since the grant of the licence, the driver had committed an offence or breached the Act or the Town Police Clauses Act 1847;

 

4.     For any other reasonable cause. 

 

5.     The Committee considered Section 61 of the Act, Middlesbrough Council Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Policy 2022 (“the Policy”), the report and the representations made by the driver.

 

Decision

 

6.     After carefully considering all of the information, the Licensing Committee decided to revoke the driver’s combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence on the grounds of any other reasonable cause. 

 

Reasons

 

7.     The Policy confirmed that the Council’s licensed drivers should be safe drivers with good driving records and adequate experience, sober, mentally and physically fit, be honest and not persons who would take advantage of their employment to abuse or assault passengers.

 

8.     The Policy on Convictions was set out at Appendix G, Policy on the Relevance of Convictions, Cautions, Reprimands, Warnings, Complaints and Character.

 

9.     The Policy stated that individuals with multiple motoring convictions may indicate that the individual does not exhibit the behaviours of a safe road user and one that was suitable to drive professionally.

 

10.  It was documented in the Policy that if a driver was cautioned for, or convicted of, any motoring or criminal offence or made subject to a CRASBO, ASBO or injunction or arrested or charged with any motoring or criminal offence they must notify the Council, in writing, within 48 hours.

 

11.  The Policy confirmed that if an applicant had between 7 and 9 live points on their licence for such offences they must show a period of three years free from conviction before an application will be considered. This also applied to drivers with a licence.

 

12.  Archived records showed that the driver had been licensed as a Hackney Carriage/Private Hire driver with Middlesbrough Council since 1998, with his current licence due to expire on 31st July 2025.

 

13.  Records further showed that the driver had previously appeared before the Licensing Committee due to certain offences being recorded against him that gave cause for concern as to his suitability to continue being licensed as a driver.

 

14.  On 12 December 2024, Licensing Officers received an email from the driver informing them that he had received 6 penalty points on his licence.  As a result, Officers carried out a routine check on the status of the Driver’s DVLA driving licence, which showed two motoring offences as follows:

 

                           i.          19 March 2024 – Exceeding statutory speed limit on a public road – Issued with a fixed penalty notice and 3 points

                          ii.          14 April 2024 (date of conviction 07 November 2024) – Exceeding statutory speed limit on a public road - £660 fine and 6 points.

 

15.  Licensing Officers had no record of the driver informing them of the speeding offence arising on 19 March 2024, furthermore the driver had failed to notify Officers within 48 hours of his conviction on 7 November 2024.

 

16.  The driver was interviewed on 6 February 2025 to obtain his explanation on the motoring offences and the failure to notify the Council of such convictions within 48 hours.

 

17.  The driver stated that on the 19 March 2024 offence, he could not remember the exact location but he was caught by a static speed camera.  For the offence on 14 April 2024, he stated he was unaware of two new speed cameras in that particular location and that he was caught by one at a speed of 58mph in a 30mph zone.

 

18.  At the Committee hearing, the driver stated he had made a mistake in speeding and not notifying the Council within 48 hours, and he was very sorry.

 

19.  The Committee took the view that the driver had not complied with the licence conditions when he had failed to notify the Council of the offences within 48 hours. Further, the Committee considered that the driver speeding at almost double the speed limit was extremely serious as was the accumulation of 9 points on his licence.

 

20.  It was, therefore, considered that the driver was not a fit and proper person or safe and suitable to be licensed as a hackney carriage and private hire driver in Middlesbrough.

 

21.  The Committee, based on the evidence they were presented with, determined there were no compelling, clear, good or exceptional reasons to depart from the Policy, and decided to revoke the licence for the reasons set out above.

 

22.  If the driver was aggrieved by the decision he may appeal to a Magistrates Court within 21 days from the date of the notice of the decision.  The local magistrates for the area was the Teesside Justice Centre, Teesside Magistrates, Victoria Square, Middlesbrough.

 

23.  If the driver did appeal the decision and the appeal was dismissed by the Magistrates Court, the Council will claim its costs in defending its decision from the driver which could be in the region of £1,000.