Agenda item

The Director of Adult Social Care and Health Integration submitted an exempt report in connection with an application for a  Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence, Ref: 03/23, 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 that 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 appeared before Committee in relation to the offence detailed at 1). 

The applicant was interviewed by a Licensing Enforcement Officer on 1 March 2023 when he provided an explanation in relation to the offence at 1) and confirmed that there were no other offences of which the Council was unaware.

The applicant confirmed that the report was an accurate representation of the facts and was invited to address the Committee in support of his application. 

The applicant presented the case in support of his application and responded to questions from Members, the Council’s legal representative and the Licensing Manager.

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, 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: 03/23, be granted.

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’s licence only if it was satisfied the driver was a fit and proper person to be granted such a licence.

2.         The Committee considered Section 51 of the Act, Middlesbrough Council’s 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 of the information, the Licensing Committee decided to grant the application for a Private Hire Vehicle driver’s licence on the grounds that it was satisfied the applicant was a fit and proper person to be granted such a licence.

Reasons

5.         The Policy required a conviction-free period of at least 7 years for a conviction for an offence of dishonesty.  The applicant accepted a caution for an offence of Theft by an Employee on 27 July 2017.   Therefore, the decision to grant the licence was a departure from the Policy. 

6.         The Committee considered there were good reasons to depart from the Policy in this case.  The police considered the appropriate sanction to be a caution rather than prosecution and the applicant accepted a caution for taking a laptop home after he had given notice terminating his employment with Redcar and Cleveland Council.  The Committee considered that the incident occurred in 2016 - nearly seven years ago – and, on balance, considered the applicant came across as being trustworthy.  The Committee was also persuaded that the applicant had been continually employed by various employers despite disclosing the caution.