Minutes:
The Director of Adult Social Care and Health
Integration submitted an exempt report in connection with the review of
Combined Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref: 05/21, 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,
accompanied by a representative, was in attendance at the meeting and verified
his name and address and confirmed that he had received a copy of the report
and understood its contents.
With the permission of the Chair, the driver’s
representative submitted a written testament statement in support of the
driver, copies of which were distributed to Committee Members.
The Licensing Manager presented a summary of the
report in relation to the driver’s conviction, detailed at 1) in the submitted
report and made reference to the relevant sections of the Council’s Policy
Guidance on Cautions, Convictions and Complaints.
The report highlighted that the driver was first
licensed with Middlesbrough Council in August 2000. The driver first appeared before Members in
May 2003 when Members considered a conviction which is now too old to be of
relevance. On that occasion, however,
the driver was permitted to retain his licence.
The driver now appeared before the Committee as a
result of the conviction detailed at 1) and was interviewed by a Licensing
Officer on 5 May 2021 when he provided an explanation for the offence – the
full details of which were contained within the report – and confirmed that
there were no other outstanding matter of which the Council was unaware.
The driver confirmed that the report was an
accurate representation of the facts and was invited to address the Committee.
The driver addressed the Committee in support of
his case and responded to questions from Members, the Council’s legal
representative and the Licensing Manager.
The driver’s representative also spoke in support
of the driver and responded to questions from Members.
It was confirmed that there were no further
questions and the Chair advised the parties that they would be informed of the
Committee’s decision within five working days.
Subsequently, the driver, his representative and officers of the
Council, other than representatives of the Council’s Legal and Democratic
Services, withdrew from the meeting whilst the Committee determined the
review.
It was necessary for the Committee to reconvene to
determine the decision. Therefore, the
Committee subsequently reconvened on 17
June 2021. The following were
present:-
PRESENT: Councillor
Arundale (Chair); Councillors: Cooper (Substitute for Councillor Bell), Dean,
Dodds (Substitute for Councillor Jones), Higgins, Hill, C Hobson and J Walker.
OFFICERS: S Bonner, C Cunningham and
J Dixon.
PRESENT AS AN OBSERVER: M Embleton - Legal Services.
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE were submitted on behalf of Councillors Bell, Cooke,
Jones, Lewis, Polano, Smiles and S Walker.
ORDERED that Combined Hackney
Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref 05/21 be suspended for a
period of six weeks, for the following reasons:-
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 has been
convicted of an offence involving dishonesty, indecency or violence;
-
Since the grant of the licence the driver has
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, Policy Guidance to Applicants,
Licensed Drivers and Members of the Licensing Committee which came into force
on 1 November 2019 (“the Policy”), the report and the representations made by
the driver and his representative.
3. The
review of the licence was considered on its own particular facts and on its
merits.
Decision
4. After
carefully considering all of the information, the Licensing Committee decided
to SUSPEND the driver’s combined
hackney carriage and private hire vehicle licence for a period of six weeks for
the following reasons.
Reasons
5.
The Committee considered the driver’s history on the whole in order to
assess his suitability to continue to be licensed.
6.
The Committee noted that the driver had been subject to contempt of court
proceedings in respect of a claim brought by himself and his family against a
holiday company. It appeared from the
information provided that an Estoppel Hearing was brought by solicitors on
behalf of the driver, which would be to stop the contempt of court
proceedings. The driver had confirmed he
had agreed to this hearing being abandoned on the advice of his solicitor. At a subsequent hearing, the driver confirmed
that he admitted he had made a false claim following advice from his
solicitor. As a result of this he was
sentenced to four months imprisonment on 26 February 2021.
7.
The driver explained to the Committee that he was advised to admit he
made a false claim because he could not disprove that a questionnaire was
completed by his son and sent to the holiday company. The driver had said that he did not believe a
questionnaire was sent in and that he and his family were ill on part of the
holiday. He also informed the Committee
he felt let down by the legal system and that he and his family were initially
contacted by a law firm which was representing other claimants.
8.
However, the Committee considered all of the evidence in relation to
that matter would have been scrutinised by a judge in a court of law and that
the driver made an admission to a judge in a court of law. The Committee would not, and could not, go
behind that admission or the Judge’s decision in passing the prison sentence of
four months. The Committee, therefore,
did consider that the driver had made a false claim and was imprisoned as a
result.
9. The Committee noted that as
a result of the case the driver was in debt by a large amount of money,
however, did not consider this was relevant as its role was to consider the
overall protection of the public.
10. The Policy stated that for
an isolated conviction involving dishonesty a minimum period of five years free
from conviction was required before granting a licence. The Committee considered that the false claim
was similar to the offences listed in the Policy that required a period of five
years free from conviction.
11. However, on this particular
occasion after considering all of the particular facts and circumstances of the
review of the driver, the Committee decided to depart from the Policy and not
revoke the licence.
12. The Committee considered
that the driver had been licensed for a period of approximately 20 years
without any issues. The Committee noted
that the driver had been entrusted to carry out school runs and private
contracts with care homes carrying vulnerable passengers with special needs,
learning difficulties and disabilities over a long period.
13. The Committee considered
that character references had been provided, some from service providers to
vulnerable children and adults, stating the driver was an honest and trustworthy
person who took care of his passengers and provided receipts for work
undertaken. The driver had gained this
trust over a long period during the length of his licence. The driver had also been the Chair of the
Middlesbrough Hackney Carriage Association which was again a position of trust.
There were no other issues that showed the driver was a danger or risk to the
public.
14. The Committee considered that although serious, the matter was out of
character based on his previous conduct. On this particular occasion, the
Committee did not consider revocation was appropriate but considered that a
suspension of his licence for six weeks would be a sufficient and appropriate
deterrent. It considered the incident was serious enough to warrant a suspension
for six weeks as he was imprisoned for making a false claim. The Committee considered a six week
suspension would deter the driver from acting in such a manner in the future
and would ensure he acted in a trustworthy manner in accordance with his
previous licensing history and the character references he had provided in
support of his licence.
15. If the driver was aggrieved
by the decision he may appeal to the Teesside Justice Centre, Teesside
Magistrates, Victoria Square, Middlesbrough within 21 days from the date of the
notice of the decision.
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 the region in excess of £750.
Supporting documents: