Agenda item

The Director of Environment and Community Services submitted an exempt report in connection with the review of Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref: 10/25, 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 Licensing Manager presented a summary of the report outlining that the driver had been licensed with Middlesbrough Council since October 2019, with his current licence due to expire in June 2026.

 

It was highlighted that Members initially granted the driver’s Private Hire Vehicle driver licence following his referral to the Licensing Committee as he had been unable to comply with certain requirements of the Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy.  Namely, that he had been resident in the UK for almost four years, not five years as required by the Policy, and was unable to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct of equivalent from his country of origin.  The driver’s DBS check was clear and Members decided to depart from the Policy to grant the licence as they believed the driver to be credible, trustworthy and reliable.

 

The driver now appeared before Members in relation to an incident on 13 March 2025 which raised concerns regarding his suitability to continue as a licensed driver with Middlesbrough Council.

 

The report outlined that, on 17 March 2025, Licensing Officers received information from Stockton Council in relation to some CCTV footage obtained whereby a Middlesbrough Council licensed private hire vehicle was captured, in a public car park in Stockton, engaging in sexual activity with a female passenger.

 

Following review of the footage, Licensing Officers made enquiries with the driver’s employer and the driver was confirmed as being the driver of the vehicle.  Further enquiries on 25 March 2025 confirmed that the driver was not logged on to work at the time the incident occurred.

 

The driver was interviewed by a Licensing Enforcement Officer on 21 March 2025 and was shown the CCTV footage.  The driver provided an explanation in relation to the incident and confirmed that it was him, that he was not working at the time and that the passenger was not a fare but a friend.

 

A copy of map showing the site of the car park was attached at Appendix 1 and a photograph showing cars parked during a typical day time period, including identification of the area where the driver had been parked at the time of the incident on 13 March, was attached at Appendix 2.

 

A copy of a still image taken from the CCTV footage showing the driver sitting in his vehicle in the car park was attached at Appendix 3.

 

CCTV footage of the incident was available to view at the meeting, however, given that Officers had reviewed the footage and that the driver had accepted that it was him, the Committee considered it was not necessary to view it.

 

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 and the Council’s Legal Representative.

 

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 Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref No: 10/25, be retained, but that the driver be issued with a warning regarding his conduct, 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:

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

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

-        For any other reasonable cause. 

 

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

 

3.     The review of the licence was considered on its own particular facts and on its merits.

 

Decision

 

4.     After carefully considering all the information, the Licensing Committee decided to, on this occasion, permit the driver to keep his licence, but issued him with a formal warning in respect of his behaviour and conduct.

 

Reasons

 

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

 

6.     The Policy stated that the Council could consider circumstances of concern even though a conviction had not been obtained or the conduct did not amount to a criminal offence.

 

7.     The Code of Conduct for Licensed Drivers stated that licence holders shall behave in a professional manner at all times.

 

8.     The driver had been licensed as a private hire driver since 21 October 2019, when his application was granted by the Committee.  The reason the application had been referred to Committee was that the driver had not lived in the UK for five years and could not obtain a Certificate of Good Conduct or equivalent document from his country of origin as he had fled the Country and resided in the UK on asylum.

 

9.     On 17 March 2025, Licensing Officers received information from Stockton Council regarding CCTV footage of an incident involving a Middlesbrough Council licensed Private Hire Vehicle, later identified as being the driver (confirmed by his private hire operator).  It was explained that footage appeared to show the driver of the vehicle engaging in sexual acts with a female in the front passenger seat.

 

10.  Following confirmation from the driver’s private hire operator that the driver of the private hire vehicle was the subject driver of this review, the Licensing Officers examined the footage.  The footage showed the driver parked in a public car park in his private hire vehicle accompanied by a female.  The footage appeared to show sexual conduct between the driver and the female.

 

11.  The Committee heard that the driver was not working at the time the passenger was in his car, and that the driver had been seeing the female passenger for several months.

 

12.  The Committee heard that the driver and female were parked up in the car park when one thing led to another and the two engaged in some sexual contact.  The Committee was informed that the driver accepted that sexual contact occurred but that the female had her clothes on, and the driver did not have his hand inside her clothing.

 

13.  The driver informed the Committee that this was a one-off occasion and that he was extremely sorry that it had happened.  The driver further stated that the intention was to go to meet up with the female and chat, the intention was never to engage in sexual acts.  The driver offered a full apology as to his behaviour.

 

14.  The Committee also heard that Licensing Officers had been informed by the Police that the behaviour could have amounted to a criminal offence of ‘public decency’.

 

15.  The Committee considered that the behaviour displayed by the driver was unacceptable, and also considered whether the driver was a fit and proper person to hold a licence.  Consideration was given to the Overriding Duty of the Policy and to the Code of Conduct and Conditions.  The Committee noted the mitigation provided by the driver: that he was in a form of relationship with the passenger; he was not working as a private hire vehicle driver at the time; and he was extremely apologetic about his behaviour.

 

16.  The Committee, in this instance, determined that a formal warning as to the driver’s behaviour was appropriate to educate the driver and reiterate that this behaviour was not tolerated as well as to ensure the driver complied with the Policy and rules going forward.

 

17.  The driver was reminded of the Code of Conduct specifically point 1c, whereby it stated a driver should behave in a professional manner at all times.

 

18.  This decision was final and there was no internal or statutory route of appeal, however, the driver had the option of judicially reviewing the lawfulness of the decision to the high court if grounds had been made out.  If the driver decided to challenge the decision by way of judicial review, he would be advised to seek independent legal advice as to the grounds and time limits that may apply.   It was highlighted that if the driver did take this course of action, the Council would apply for any costs it incurred in defending its decision.