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: 35/25, 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 outlining that the applicant was previously licensed with Middlesbrough Council from August 2018 until 5 December 2022 when his licence was revoked by Officers following his arrest for cannabis possession on 23 November 2022.

 

In summary, the applicant was stopped by Police on 23 November 2022 whilst driving a Private Hire Vehicle and was carrying one adult male passenger.  Upon stopping the vehicle, Police Officers detected the smell of cannabis, and a subsequent search of the vehicle discovered approximately 22kg of cannabis.

 

Following receipt of the Police disclosure, a Licensing Officer contacted the driver by telephone on 28 November 2022 to discuss the matter before the decision was taken to revoke his Private Hire Vehicle driver licence with immediate effect.

 

A copy of the Police disclosure, dated 25 November 2022, and revocation letter, dated 5 December 2022, were attached at Appendices 1 and 2.

 

On 10 January 2023, the driver received notification from Cumbria Police that no further action would be taken against him in relation to the offence.  A copy was attached at Appendix 3.

 

The applicant now appeared before Members with a fresh application.

 

The applicant was interviewed by Licensing Officers on 14 August 2025 when he confirmed that there were no other outstanding matters of which the Council was unaware and provided an explanation in relation to his arrest in November 2022.

 

During interview, the applicant stated that when he was stopped by the Police, he had been unable to smell cannabis in the vehicle due to suffering from a virus causing him to lose his sense of smell.  He advised Officers that he had previously visited his GP on 14 and 17 November 2022 in connection with these symptoms and provided a letter from his GP, dated 1 March 2023, in support of his application.  This was attached at Appendix 4.

 

The applicant also highlighted that he had emailed the Licensing Department, on 15 February 2023, highlighting a number of factual errors within the revocation letter (dated 5 December 2022).  A copy of which was attached at Appendix 5.

 

The applicant confirmed the content of the report as being an accurate representation of the facts but wished to point out that, in relation to the incident in 2022, the passenger had asked him for his telephone number.

 

In response to a query on the report regarding the date of the application being made on 12 August 2024, it was confirmed that this was correct and that the delay in the applicant being interviewed was due to the applicant not completing the required taxi tests and processes sooner.

 

With the Chair’s permission, the applicant circulated print outs of his earnings for the three-week period in 2022 at the time he was arrested.  The applicant stated that he had not been earning much at that time which had influenced his decision to take the passenger to Scotland, for an agreed fee, without booking the journey through his operator.

 

The applicant was invited to address the Committee in support of his application.

 

The applicant spoke in support of his application and responded to questions from Members of the Committee, the Licensing Manager 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 Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref No: 35/25, 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 licence only if it was satisfied the applicant 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 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 Policy on Convictions was set out at Appendix G, Policy on the Relevance of Convictions, Cautions, Reprimands, Warnings, Complaints and Character.

 

6.     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.

 

7.     The Policy confirmed that criminal convictions were not the only criteria used when considering whether an individual was a fit and proper person to be licensed.  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.  In assessing the action to take, the safety of the travelling public must be the paramount concern.

 

8.     The applicant was previously licensed as a Private Hire Vehicle driver with the Council, from August 2018 until his licence was revoked by Officers on 5 December 2022, following his arrest in connection with the offence of ‘Possess with intent to supply controlled drug – class B’.

 

9.     The disclosure that Licensing Officers received at the time was that on 23 November 2022, the applicant had been stopped by Police in Cumbria.  The Police detected the smell of cannabis and, upon searching the vehicle, discovered approximately 22kg of cannabis.

 

10.  Following the receipt of a new application on 12 August 2024, the applicant was interviewed by Licensing Officers on 14 August 2025.  A full summary of the interview was detailed in the report.

 

11.  The applicant informed Officers that he had received a call from a male who had previously been a passenger in his vehicle.  The applicant agreed to take him on a return journey from Middlesbrough to Glasgow for an agreed fare of £600.00.  The applicant admitted that he was aware that accepting a direct booking from the customer was unlawful and a big mistake.

 

12.  The applicant explained that at the time, he was not receiving much work from his Private Hire Operator and felt that the Operator was favouring certain drivers when allocating bookings.  He, therefore, agreed to take the illegal booking to earn extra income.

 

13.  Officers were told by the applicant that he had previously taken the passenger on a short trip and had provided his phone number when asked by the passenger to do so.

 

14.  The applicant stated that he was completely unaware of the cannabis contained in his passenger’s bags.  He further detailed how, at the time, he was suffering from viral related symptoms and had lost his sense of smell and, as a result, was unable to smell the cannabis in the vehicle.  The applicant asserted that he had visited his GP on 14 and 17 November 2022 in connection with the symptoms and provided a letter dated 1 March 2023 in support of this assertion.

 

15.  During the Committee hearing, the applicant and Licensing Officer clarified that the gap in dates between his application being made and his interview were correct and due to him not sitting the relevant tests and completing the relevant parts of the process.

 

16.  At Committee, the applicant stressed that he had made a mistake accepting the direct booking and had taken responsibility for this.  The applicant provided printed copies of booking transactions and fees for a period and stressed to the Committee that he was earning low amounts, reiterating why he had taken the direct booking.

 

17.  When asked if he had accepted unlawful bookings before the incident, the applicant stated he had not and emphasised that should he obtain his licence, he would not do it again.  The applicant also stated that he had never given a passenger his number before and would not do it again, even if asked.

 

18.  The Committee asked the applicant to explain in further detail the passenger’s request.  The applicant stated that the passenger had asked him to make a round trip to Glasgow.  Upon their arrival the passenger asked the applicant to wait in the car park for an hour or two.  The applicant explained that the passenger returned to the car park driving a white van and unloaded two bags from the van into the applicant’s vehicle.  When asked if he was suspicious of this, the applicant stated he was not.

 

19.  The Committee queried why the applicant was pulled over by Police during the return journey. The Licensing Officer clarified that this was detailed in Appendix 1 to the report, informing the Committee that the applicant was pulled over for the manner in which the vehicle was being driven.

 

20.  The applicant was asked whether he knew the passenger and responded that he had only met the passenger once prior to the incident.  It was noted that the Committee found the answer to this question evasive.

 

21.  Based on the evidence presented, the Committee found that the applicant was not a fit and proper person to hold a Private Hire Vehicle driver licence in Middlesbrough.  The Committee was extremely concerned that the applicant had taken an unlawful booking and had also previously provided his personal phone number to the passenger in order to be contacted to arrange future journeys.

 

22.  The Committee was also concerned that the applicant did not find the job itself suspicious.  The Committee found it difficult to understand how the applicant had not questioned why he had waited in a car park for an hour and why the passenger would return driving a white van, unloading bags from the van into the taxi vehicle.

 

23.  The Committee did not find the applicant’s version of events to be believable and was suspicious of the circumstances.  The Committee found it difficult to accept that this was a one-time unlawful job and that he happened to be taking a passenger involved in the transportation of drugs.  This was of further concern to the Committee following the evasive response the applicant provided when discussing how many times he had met the passenger.

 

24.  The Committee gave consideration to the applicant being pulled over by Police for the manner in which he was driving.

 

25.  The Committee reviewed the letter the applicant had provided from the GP and did not feel it offered any real support to the applicant’s reported symptoms.  The Committee oted that the applicant claimed he had had a positive Covid test, this could not be verified as there was no evidence of the applicant registering the test on the NHS app.  The letter appeared, to the Committee, to be a character reference rather than confirmation of specific symptoms.  In consideration, the Committee found it difficult to believe that the applicant could not smell the vast amount of cannabis found in the vehicle.

 

26.  The Committee, for the reasons 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.

 

27.  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.

 

28.  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.