Agenda item

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: 03/22, 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.  It was highlighted that the driver was first licensed with Middlesbrough Council in May 2012 following an appearance at Committee when Members decided to grant him a licence after considering the circumstances of a simple caution which is now considered too old to be of relevance.

 

The driver next appeared before Members in September 2014 when, after considering the information presented, he was issued with a warning.  A copy of the warning letter was attached at Appendix 1.

 

The driver now appeared before Committee in relation to a complaint received from a member of the public on 3 February 2022.  The complaint related to an incident on 2 February 2022 when the female complainant stated she undertook a journey in the driver’s vehicle with her two young children and claimed that the driver attempted to overcharge her due to requesting to be taken to a different destination from that pre-booked and paid for via the operator’s app.  She further claimed that the driver had shouted and sworn at her and told her to get out of the vehicle before reaching their final destination.  A copy of the complainant’s statement was attached at Appendix 2 to the report.

 

Enquiries were made by the Licensing Section with the driver’s operator which confirmed details of the journey and also that no revised price was requested by the driver.

The driver was interviewed by a Licensing Enforcement Officer on 7 February 2022 when he provided an explanation in relation to the complaint and confirmed that he had advised the passenger that it was likely the journey would cost slightly more as the journey was one or two miles further than the destination previously booked.  A full statement was provided by the driver and attached at Appendix 3 to the report.

 

The driver’s operator had since provided further details and clarification around the booking process used via the operator’s app and also confirmed the cost of the journey to the passenger’s final destination.

 

For the Committee’s information, a map showing the final destination of the passenger’s journey was attached at Appendix 4.

 

The driver confirmed that the report was an accurate representation of the facts and advised that he had contacted his operator himself to provide confirmation that he had not been speeding during the journey, as stated by the complainant.  The Licensing Manager made enquiries and was able to provide Members with an email from the driver’s operator confirming the speed at which he was travelling along certain points of the journey.

 

The Licensing Manager confirmed that the complainant had been contacted and invited to attend Committee, which she had initially accepted.  However, further attempts to contact the complainant to confirm her attendance had been unsuccessful.  The complainant was not in attendance at the meeting.

 

The driver was invited to address the Committee in support of his case and provided his version of events in relation to the complaint.  The driver also responded to questions from Members, the Licensing Manager 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, 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: 03/22, be retained and that no further action be taken.

 

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 Licensee and the written representations of the Complainant.

 

Decision

 

3.      After carefully considering all of the information and considering the review on its own merits, the Committee decided to take no further action in respect of the Licence, for the following reasons.

 

Reasons

 

4.      After carefully considering the detailed explanation of the journey, the information from the operator, the conditions attached to the driver’s licence, the posts on Facebook from the complainant and the complaint itself, it considered the driver did no wrongdoing.  It considered the journey was slightly longer than the Complainant confirmed on the app, however, the driver correctly informed the passenger that he would contact the operator as it may be a pound or so more.  The Committee believed the passenger reacted badly and the driver said he decided not to contact the operator to stop matters escalating. He charged the passenger the rate quoted on the app and did not request or take more than that fare.

 

5.      The Complainant did not attend the Committee and all of the credible information pointed towards the explanation above, the Committee did not believe the driver had been aggressive or had sworn at the passenger.

 

There appeared to be no breach of condition or inappropriate behavior and therefore no further action was taken.