Agenda item

The Director of Environment and Community Services submitted an exempt report in connection with an application for a Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref: 13/25, where circumstances had arisen which required special consideration by the Committee.

 

The Chair introduced those present and outlined the procedure to be followed.  The applicant, 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 stating that the applicant appeared before Members due to the conviction listed at 1) in the submitted report. 

 

It was highlighted that records held by the Licensing Office showed that the applicant was previously licensed by the Council as a Private Hire Vehicle driver from 1 September 2017 until 30 August 2020.  The applicant’s licence was suspended on 4 June 2019 due to him not completing a Wheelchair Accessibility Course.

 

The applicant made a fresh application on 17 December 2024 and declared that he had no previous convictions or cautions recorded against him.  He subsequently provided a DBS Disclosure Certificate on 18 December, showing no convictions recorded against him.

 

On 18 December 2024, a Licensing Officer carried out a routine check on the applicant’s DVLA licence which revealed the motoring offence, dated 2 October 2024, detailed at 1) in the submitted report.

 

It was confirmed that the applicant had complied with all other application requirements including the completion of a Disability Awareness Training Course on 30 January 2025.

 

The Principal Licensing Officer contacted the applicant, on 3 February 2025, by email, to advise of the relevance of his conviction and in relation to the Council’s Policy Guidance and reminded the applicant that he had failed to declare the conviction on his application form.

 

The Licensing Officer also asked the applicant to confirm whether he wished to proceed with the application in view of the policy guidance.

 

The applicant responded on 10 February 2025 confirming he wished to proceed and provided an explanation in relation to the offence.  He was subsequently interviewed by a Licensing Enforcement Officer on 10 March 2025 when he explained the circumstances of the offence at 1) and his failure to declare it.  He also confirmed that there were no outstanding issues of which the Council was unaware.

 

The applicant 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 application.

 

The applicant addressed the Committee in support of his application 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 applicant, 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 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 Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref No: 13/25, be refused, as follows:-

 

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, the Middlesbrough Council 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 the information, the Licensing Committee decided to refuse to grant the application for a Private Hire Vehicle driver’s licence on the grounds that the Committee was not satisfied the applicant was a fit and proper person to be granted the licence.  The reasons for the decision were as follows:

 

Reasons

 

5.     The applicant was convicted on 2 October 2024 for breaching the requirements as to control of the vehicle (includes mobile phone offences that carry a mandatory 6 penalty points).  The applicant was fined £200 and six penalty points were endorsed on his driving licence.

 

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

 

7.     The Policy was clear, it stated that a serious view would be taken regarding convictions for driving whilst using a mobile phone or hand-held device.  In light of this, an equally serious view would be taken of a conviction for driving whilst using a mobile phone or hand-held device and a driver’s licence would not be granted until at least five years had elapsed since the conviction.

 

8.     The applicant did not declare the conviction and points on his licence in his application for a Private Hire Vehicle licence.

 

9.     The applicant admitted to Licensing Officers during the interview process that he had not declared the conviction on his application form as he had ‘skim read’ the application and had not read it properly.

 

10.  The Committee heard from the applicant that the incident was a mistake and that given the circumstances with his sick Aunt, he thought the call was important and decided to answer his phone whilst at traffic lights.  A Police car drove past and issued the applicant with a fixed penalty notice and 6 points on his licence.

 

11.  The Committee considered that it was unacceptable to fail to disclose the offence on the application form, and further considered it was unacceptable that the reason for the applicant doing so was due to him ‘skim reading’ the document.

 

12.  The Committee determined that this was a major traffic offence and decided to refuse to grant the licence in accordance with the Policy.  The Committee considered there were no good or exceptional reasons to depart from it.  The Committee, for the reasons given above, could not be satisfied the applicant was a fit and proper person or safe and suitable to be licenced as a Private Hire Vehicle driver in Middlesbrough.

 

13.  If the applicant 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 Teesside Justice Centre, Teesside Magistrates Court, Victoria Square, Middlesbrough, TS1 2AS.

 

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