Agenda item

The Corporate Director of Regeneration and Housing submitted an exempt report in connection with the review of Combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref: 07/26, 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, highlighting that the matter had been due to be considered by the Licensing Committee on 13 April 2026, however, the driver notified Officers he would not be able to attend due to a pre-arranged family holiday and requested that the matter be deferred to the next scheduled meeting.

Archived records showed that the driver was first licensed with Middlesbrough Council in August 1993.  His licence was granted following consideration of the convictions at 1) to 3) in the report by the Licensing Committee.

On 6 August 2021, the driver appeared before Members for consideration of a further application due to the convictions at 1) to 3).  On that occasion, the Committee refused to grant the application but advised he may wish to reapply in April 2002 when Members may consider a fresh application.

The driver again appeared before the Committee on 10 February 2003 with a new application.  Having considered the convictions at 1) to 4), the Committee granted the licence.

The driver appeared before the Committee for review of his licence on 24 August 2004 when Members considered the convictions listed at 1) to 6) in the report.  On that occasion the Committee allowed the driver to retain his licence on condition that he completed the Driver Improvement Scheme.

The driver now appeared before Committee for review of his Combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle driver licence as a result of the convictions detailed at 1) to 10) in the report.  It was highlighted that convictions 1) to 7) were previously taken into account at the time of the driver’s last licence renewal.

Members were advised that the driver had notified the Licensing Department, on 17 December 2024, by email, that he had a speeding ticket endorsement for 4 October 2024.  The next day, clarification was sought from a Licensing Officer as to whether this was the driver’s first endorsement and how many penalty points he had on his DVLA licence.

The driver responded that this was his second endorsement and he had six penalty points on his licence.

On 23 December 2024, a Licensing Officer emailed the driver to advise that due to accruing six penalty points on his DVLA licence he was required to attend a Driver Improvement Scheme within three months of the date of his last endorsement.  The driver successfully completed the scheme on 26 February 2025.

On 19 January 2026, during a routine check of the driver’s DVLA licence status, it was revealed that he had three motoring convictions recorded against him (listed at 8), 9) and 10) in the report) and nine current penalty points on his licence.

During further checks, Officers noted that in the driver’s application to renew his current taxi licence on 19 December 2024, he had failed to declare the conviction at 8), dated 27 August 2024.  In addition, it appeared that the driver had failed to notify the Licensing Department of the convictions at 9) and 10) within 48 hours as required by condition of his licence.

The driver was subsequently interviewed by a Licensing Enforcement Officer on 16 February 2026 when he provided explanations regarding the offences and why he had failed to notify the Council within 48 hours.

The report further highlighted that on 9 November 2019, during a taxi enforcement exercise,  Licensing Enforcement Officers observed the driver travelling at 40mph in a 30mph zone and also noted that his licence plate was incorrectly displayed in the rear window of his vehicle, rather than externally on the rear of the vehicle.

The driver confirmed the content of the report as being an accurate representation of the facts and was invited to address the Committee.  The driver presented his case 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 Combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref No: 07/26, be revoked, with immediate effect, 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.     Under Section 61(2B) of the Act, if it appeared to be in the interests of public safety, the Committee may decide that a revocation or suspension was to have immediate effect. 

3.     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. 

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

Decision 

5.     After carefully considering all of the information the Licensing Committee decided to revoke the driver’s Combined Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Vehicle driver’s licence on the grounds of any other reasonable cause.  It decided that the revocation was to have immediate effect in the interests of public safety under section 61(2B) of the Act.  The reasons for the decision were as follows:-

Reasons

6.     The driver had a significant history of driving offences showing a disregard for safety throughout the periods he had held a Combined Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Vehicle driver’s licence.

7.     Historically, on 20 December 1989, the driver was convicted of failing to provide a specimen and disqualified from driving for one year.  On 4 August 1993, the driver applied for, and was granted, a Combined Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Vehicle driver’s licence until 19 April 1996 when he was convicted again of drink driving and disqualified for three years.

8.     The driver was convicted on 18 June 1997 for wounding and given a community order and convicted on 17 March 2002 for failing to comply with a traffic signal and given 3 penalty points and fined.  The driver applied for and was granted a Combined Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Vehicle driver’s licence on 10 February 2003.

9.     Following the grant of the second combined licence on 10 February 2003, the driver was convicted of excess speed on 4 June 2003 and on 4 January 2004 and was fined and given three penalty points for each offence.  The driver’s licence was reviewed, and he was required to complete a Driver Improvement Scheme on 24 August 2004.

10. Following the review, the driver was convicted of excess speed on 30 March 2008, given three penalty points and fined.

11. On 9 November 2019 the driver was witnessed by Licensing Enforcement Officers speeding in his Hackney Carriage vehicle and the licence plate was incorrectly displayed.

12. The driver currently had nine penalty points on his DVLA Licence.  The driver had three current convictions for speeding; one on 27 August 2024 and two on 25 May 2025, and for each offence the driver was given three penalty points and fined.

13. The driver attended a Driver Improvement Scheme on 26 February 2025, however, continued to be convicted of two further speeding offences on 25 May 2025.

14. When the driver applied to renew his licence on 19 December 2024 he failed to declare his speeding conviction on 27 August 2024.  The driver failed to report his speeding convictions on 25 May 2025 which was a condition and requirement of his licence.  The Committee considered that failing to declare and report convictions posed a significant risk to public safety by preventing Licensing Officers from quickly assessing whether the driver was safe.  It also must be directly considered whether a driver was trustworthy, and the Committee did not accept the driver’s excuse that he did not realise the requirement to report the convictions and had assistance from his daughter when he completed his renewal form.

15. The Policy stated if an applicant (licensee) had between seven and nine live points on their licence for minor traffic offences, they must show a period of three years free from conviction before an application would be considered.  It also stated that a licensee who had a significant history of offences, showing a disregard for safety, an application would not normally be considered until a period of at least five years had lapsed since conviction. 

16. The Policy confirmed the Council had discretion to revoke a licence if a driver had driven unsafely as a result of minor traffic offences or upheld complaints putting the public at risk and, as unsafe driving was a risk to public safety, a suspension or revocation may take immediate effect.

17. The Committee considered that the Combined Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Vehicle driver’s licence should be revoked on the grounds of any other reasonable cause for the reasons given above.  The Committee considered there were no good reasons to depart from its Policy. The Committee considered the driver’s current speeding convictions, having nine points on his licence; his previous significant history of motoring offences; failure to improve following completion of Driver Improvement Schemes, all of which showed him to be an unsafe driver with a propensity to reoffend.  The risk to the public also increased due to the driver’s previous failures to report convictions within 48 hours preventing Officers from assessing safety and being in a position to take urgent action.  For these reasons the Committee considered it was also in the interests of public safety that the licence be revoked with immediate effect.

18. 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. 

19. If the driver 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 driver which could be in excess of £1,000.