Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in

doing so state:

(1)   the type of interest concerned; and

(2)   the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 15 August 2017 as a true and correct record.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 August 2017 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Resolved: That under Section 100 (A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the whole item, including the decisions referred to at Agenda item 3 on the grounds that it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

(This item contains personal information regarding applicants and licence holders which is exempt from publication by virtue of Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972)

The Sub-Committee was informed of a number of applicants and existing Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle drivers who had given sufficient cause for concern as to be referred to the Sub-Committee for consideration.

Members discussed the application and referral as follows:

(i)                 A.E (New Hackney Carriage applicant)

Mr Luke Andrews, Licensing Officer presented the Authority’s case. He reported that he and another member of the Licensing Enforcement team had accompanied AE on an informal driving assessment to ascertain if the applicant had improved since the last application to be licensed in the previous year. During the assessment the applicant made a number of serious errors whilst driving and it was the opinion of both officers that she was unsuitable to be licensed.

AE was in attendance and made representations to the Sub-Committee. She advised that she had undertaken various measures to improve her driving that had included additional driving lessons and driving with an experienced driver in the passenger seat of her own vehicle. She added that in her opinion, her confidence and driving ability had improved considerably in the last three years.

The Sub-Committee appreciated the additional support the applicant had sought in a bid to improve her driving. However, Members were seriously concerned at the frequency and nature of the faults noted on the driving assessment and the applicant’s lack of basic knowledge of the Highway Code, which meant the applicant had failed to meet the required driving standards expected of a Hackney Carriage vehicle driver. In addition, notwithstanding the supplementary training AE had undertaken, many of the faults noted were similar to those found in the 2016 driver assessment.

Resolved: That the application for a Hackney Carriage Licence be refused on the grounds that the applicant was not a fit and proper person to be licensed.

(ii)               J.P.C (Existing Hackney Carriage Driver)

The Sub-Committee noted that the drivers licence had since expired and were minded therefore to treat the case as a new application to be licensed.

JPC was in attendance and accepted responsibility for his actions. He explained that in relation to his being brought before the Sub-Committee for failure to complete mandatory prevention of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) training, he had been dealing with difficult personal and family circumstances and had simply forgotten to attend on the various scheduled sessions he had been enrolled on by the Licensing team.

Members were particularly concerned as the driver was the only one in the authority area that had yet to complete the training and felt that despite the personal issues alluded to by JPC, a more concerted effort could have been made to attend the CSE training.

Resolved:

1.      That the applicant complete the full knowledge test again and mandatory Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) training when completing the application process.

2.      That the applicant be added to the first cohort of drivers scheduled to receive refresher training when a final date had been decided upon.

(iii)             W.K(New Private Hire Driver applicant)

Mr Andrews presented the case  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To note the date of the next meeting as 10 October 2017.

Members noted that the date of the next meeting was scheduled for Tuesday 10 October 2017.