Agenda item

The Director of Adult Social Care and Health Integration submitted an exempt report in connection with an application to reinstate Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref: 14/21, 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, who was in attendance at the meeting, verified his name and address and confirmed that he had received a copy of the report and understood its contents. 

 

The Licensing Manager presented a summary of the report in relation to the application to reinstate the driver’s Private Hire Vehicle driver’s licence.

 

It was highlighted that the driver first appeared before Members in August 2015 when Members granted him a Private Hire Vehicle driver licence after considering the offence detailed at 1) in the report.  The driver’s latest licence was currently suspended and was due to expire on 31 August 2022.

 

The applicant now appeared before Members to consider the reinstatement of his licence which was suspended with immediate effect by the Licensing Manager on 10 March 2020 following information received from Cleveland Police.

 

On 9 March 2020 information was received from Cleveland Police that the driver had been arrested for the alleged offence of ‘Kidnap’ and ‘Sexual Assault on a Female’ and that he was released under investigation whilst enquiries were ongoing.

 

The Licensing Managed contacted the driver in relation to the matter on 10 March 2020 when he explained the circumstances of the allegations.  A record of this conversation was attached at Appendix 1.

 

Also on 10 March 2020, the Licensing Manager suspended the driver’s licence with immediate effect until such time as the matter was investigated by the Police and referred to the Licensing Committee for Members to determine the status of his licence.

 

On 2 October 2020, Cleveland Police confirmed that no further action would be taken against the driver in relation, however, the Licensing Manager advised that the reason for the delay in bringing the matter to Committee was due to difficulties in obtaining additional information from Cleveland Police.  The information was eventually provided on 9 December 2021 and was provided at Appendix 4.

 

In relation to the offence detailed at 1) in the report, it was noted that the driver was interviewed by a Licensing Enforcement Officer on 5 November 2020 when he provided an explanation in relation to the offence and also confirmed his previous explanations for two previous warnings issued to him.  Copies of the warnings issued in January and November 2018 were attached at Appendix 2 and Appendix 3 respectively.  The driver also provided his version of events in relation to the incident on 6 March 2020.

 

The driver confirmed that the report was an accurate representation of the facts and was invited to address the Committee.  The driver presented his case and responded to questions from Members, the Licensing Manager and the Council’s legal representative.  

 

It was confirmed that there were no further questions and driver 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 application for reinstatement. 

 

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 14/21 be reinstated, as follows:-

 

Authority to Act

 

1.    The Committee considered Section 61 of the Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act (“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.

 

2.    The driver appeared before the Licensing Committee to consider the reinstatement of his licence following a suspension with immediate effect by the Licensing manager on 10 March 2020 following information received from the Police

 

Decision

 

3.    After carefully considering all of the information and considering the review on its own merits the Committee decided to reinstate the private hire vehicle driver’s licence with the following conditions:-

a)  The driver would receive a warning as to his future conduct.

b)  The driver was required to attend the Licensing Office to receive updated training on the code of conduct of drivers.

 

Reasons

 

4.    The Committee carefully considered the review based upon the report and appendices, the representations of the driver, information from Cleveland Police and Middlesbrough Council’s Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Licencing Policy 2019.  The matter was considered on its own merits.

 

5.    The driver appeared before the Licensing Committee as a result of information received from Cleveland Police and subsequent unsuccessful attempts by the Licensing Department to obtain further information from Cleveland Police.

 

6.    The driver accepted his actions were inappropriate and against policy and the code of conduct. Additionally, the driver had been licensed since 2015 with no relevant issues to the matter in hand, which would indicate cause for concern.

 

7.    The evidence provided to the Police was questionable and they deemed the matter of insufficient seriousness to bring charges against the driver and there were issues surrounding the credibility of the witness.

 

8.    For these reasons the Committee reinstated the drivers licence with the conditions attached as outlined above.