Agenda and minutes

To consider the appointment of a Chairman of the Sub-Committee for Municipal Year 2019/2020.

Resolved:

To appoint Councillor Hutton as Chairman of the Public Protection Sub-Committee for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2019/2020.

To consider the appointment of a Vice-Chairman of the Sub-Committee for the Municipal Year 2019/2020.

Resolved:

To appoint Councillor D Scott as Vice-Chairman of the Public Protection Sub-Committee for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2019/2020.

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned either a

(a)   personal interest

(b)   prejudicial interest

(c)    disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI)

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 23 April 2019 as a true and correct record.

The Sub-Committee considered the minutes of the last meeting held on 23 April 2019.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 April 2019 be approved and signed by the Chairman.

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 items 5, 6 and 7 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 an applicant 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 applicant who had given sufficient cause for concern as to be referred to the Sub-Committee for consideration.

Members discussed the application as appropriate.

L.A.E. (New Applicant)

The applicant was not in attendance. However, Members agreed that he had been given adequate notification to attend and therefore heard the case in his absence.

Mr Ryan Ratcliffe, Licensing Officer, was in attendance and presented the authority’s case. He explained that the applicant had committed two offences that had involved damage to property.

The Sub-Committee were concerned about the nature and recency of the offences committed by the applicant and saw no reason to depart from the guidance on this occasion.

Resolved:

To refuse the application for a Donkey Driver’s Licence on the grounds that the applicant was not a fit and proper person to be licensed.

(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 applicants and existing drivers who had given sufficient cause for concern as to be referred to the Sub-Committee for consideration.

Members discussed the applications and referrals as appropriate.

(i)                  G.J.R. (New Applicant)

GJR was in attendance and made representations to the Sub-Committee. He explained that in relation to the offences he had committed which had involved dishonesty or violence in some cases, they had occurred during difficult periods in his life. He added that he now had a family and had held positions of responsibility without issue for many years. He also presented two character references to the Sub-Committee.

Members reasoned that the number and nature of offences committed by the applicant were unfortunate and this was compounded by a relative lack of explanation regarding the details of some of those offences. However, the applicant had shown maturity and remorse for his actions and seemed to present himself as someone that that learned from previous mistakes.

Resolved:

To grant the Private Hire Driver Licence with the addition of a warning letter in relation to future conduct indicating that if GJR were brought before the Sub-Committee again in the future for any reason, then serious action would likely be taken.

(ii)                S.B. (New Applicant)

Mr Ratcliffe presented the case on behalf of the authority. He informed Members that the applicant had a significant number of convictions for numerous offences committed during a seven year period, some for dishonesty, with the last having occurred over 25 years ago.

SB was in attendance and made representations to the Sub-Committee. He admitted that he had made many mistakes as a younger man and regretted much about that period of his life. He claimed he had changed many aspects of his life since and had managed numerous businesses, worked with a wide variety of people, managed significant sums of money and had a family to provide for.

The Sub-Committee expressed concern about the number and nature of the offences committed by the applicant. However, all of the convictions were historical and members reasoned the applicant had displayed remorse and made every effort to change as a person in the ensuing years.

Resolved:

To grant the Private Hire Driver Licence.

(iii)              S.R.P. (New Applicant)

The applicant explained to the Sub-Committee that the various motoring offences including one for drink-driving, detailed in the authority’s case were unfortunate and regrettable and added that one of the offences at least was not actually a motoring offence per se. In response to a question from the Sub-Committee, SRP claimed to no longer drink alcohol and had no further, more recent convictions of any sort.

The Sub-Committee reasoned that the offences were historical and accepted the applicant had made some poor choices. However, Members concerns were largely alleviated by the explanations he provided and the remorse demonstrated.

Resolved:

To grant the Private Hire Driver Licence.

(iv)              S.B.S. (Private Hire Driver)

Mr Ratcliffe informed the Sub-Committee that the driver had a conviction for battery which he  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

(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 considered referrals in respect of the following cases:

i)   P.M.H

The Sub-Committee noted that the case was linked to driver ALD contained in agenda item 6. Mr Ratcliffe advised Members that during a routine inspection carried out by Licensing Enforcement Officers, PMH’s vehicle was found to have a number of serious mechanical defects, four of which would constitute MOT failures.

The licence holder was in attendance and expressed regret that his vehicle was in such poor condition and added that he thought despite the nature of the faults, in his opinion, the vehicle was not unsafe. He also advised that he had put a maintenance schedule in place with each of his drivers complete with a checklist to be completed by each driver at the start of their shifts. A letter from the owner of a local taxi firm was produced by way of character reference in support of PMH.

The Sub-Committee considered the case and accepted that despite the faults identified on the licence holder’s vehicle, he had already made efforts to improve future conduct and seemed remorseful.

Resolved:

1.To issue the licence holder with a warning letter, indicating if he were brought before the Sub-Committee again for similar maintenance concerns, then suspension or revocation of the Vehicle Licence would be the likely outcome.

2.To impose the following conditions on the Vehicle Licence, effective immediately:

·         The licence holder or a suitably qualified mechanic must inspect the vehicle on a weekly basis.

·         The licence holder to implement a vehicle safety inspection regime to be undertaken at a minimum of every two months by a qualified motor engineer. Such records to be kept for a period of two years.

·         Records of all servicing to be retained for two years, those servicing records to contain the date, vehicle registration number and mileage of the vehicle

·         All service/inspection records must be legible

·         All records to be produced to enforcement or police officers within 24 hours of the demand being made.

·         The licence holder must implement a procedure to ensure that drivers do a visual inspection of the licensed vehicle each time that they take charge of that vehicle and report any faults with it to the licence holder.

(ii)  J.J.S.

JJS was not in attendance but was instead represented by her brother, Mr Myers.

He explained that the poor maintenance identified during an inspection of the Licence Holder’s vehicle was unfortunate and he apologised on her behalf. However, he proceeded to describe mitigating factors that he asked the Sub-Committee to consider. A number of receipts, photographs and car parts were circulated to Members and Mr Myers claimed that the regular mechanic used of pre-testing of JJS’s vehicle had let them down by suggesting the vehicle was in a condition ready to be presented for a routine pit-test.

The Sub-Committee appreciated the detailed case put forward by Mr Myers on behalf of the Licence Holder. However, despite assurances of improvements to JJS’s future maintenance regime, ultimately the fact remained that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To note the date of the next scheduled meeting as 23 July 2019 and to consider the future start time of meetings.

The date of the next meeting was noted as 23 July 2019.