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 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 17 December 2019 as a true and correct record.

The Sub-Committee considered the minutes of the last meeting held on 17 December 2019.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 December be approved and 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 items 3 and 4.

(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 Licence Holders who had given sufficient cause for concern as to be referred for consideration.

Members discussed the applications and referrals as appropriate.

(i)      S.S. (New Applicant)

Mr Ratcliffe, Licensing Enforcement Officer was in attendance and presented the case on behalf of the authority. It was reported that the applicant had two previous convictions for drink driving which gave cause for concern to the Licensing Service.

The applicant was in attendance with his brother and made representations to the Sub-Committee. SS explained that he regretted the offences outlined in the report and suggested that he had made some poor lifestyle choices in the past. He added that he wished to put those times behind him and was now looking for greater stability and flexibility in his work to accommodate his family life.

The Sub-Committee considered the seriousness and relevance of the driving offences committed by SS but accepted on balance that he had made positive changes to his life and deserved to be given a chance given the time that had elapsed since the most recent offence.

Resolved:

To grant the Private Hire Driver’s Licence with the addition of a Severe Warning Letter in relation to future conduct indicating that in the event the applicant was brought before the Sub-Committee again in the future, suspension or revocation of the Licence would be the likely outcome.

(ii)    C.A. (New Applicant)

The applicant was in attendance and in response to the authority case which listed numerous criminal convictions that included violent offences and motoring convictions, CA produced a letter in support of his application and explained that since those convictions, his circumstances had changed and he now had a family and ran a business with his wife. With regards to the offences, the applicant regretted mistakes he had made in younger life and assured Members that his poor choices were a result of youth and ignorance.

The Sub-Committee believed that on balance that whilst the offences gave cause for concern, they were historic and the applicant had clearly made positive steps to change his life for the better and had largely mitigated his earlier mistakes.

Resolved:

To grant the Private Hire Driver’s Licence with the addition of a Severe Warning Letter in relation to future conduct indicating that in the event the applicant was brought before the Sub-Committee again in the future, suspension or revocation of the Licence would be the likely outcome.

(iii)  M.R. (Existing Private Hire Driver)

The Licence Holder was not in attendance and therefore made no representations to the Sub-Committee. In the absence of any contact from the driver, Members agreed to hear the case in his absence.

Mr Ratcliffe informed the Sub-Committee that as a licensed driver, MR was required to submit to a Group Two Medical once every five years given his age. In addition, the driver had failed to attend certain required training sessions and the Licensing Service had been unable to make contact with him.

Given the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

(This item contains personal information regarding 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 Licence Holders who had given sufficient cause for concern as to be referred for consideration.

Members discussed the referrals as appropriate.

(i)      A.O. (Existing Licence holder)

Mr Ratcliffe presented the case on behalf of the authority. The vehicle belonging to AO had failed a routine pit test and numerous serious mechanical defects had been reported by technicians at the Central Vehicle Maintenance Unit at Layton Depot. Of the 18 faults identified, nine were judged to be MOT failures. Whilst the vehicle’s age meant that it fell just outside the Exceptional Quality Policy, it was still taken off the road immediately.

The Licence Holder was in attendance and made representations to the Sub-Committee. He advised that he had since replaced the vehicle and suggested that at the time of the pit-test, he was surprised to find the faults discovered as he claimed to have taken the vehicle to his mechanic shortly before the test date and they had failed to observe any of the faults. He suggested some of the faults, particularly those on the underside of the vehicle would have been impossible to spot without a ramp. AO presented a number of receipts that he claimed proved that preparatory work had been undertaken on the vehicle prior to testing.

The Sub-Committee expressed serious concerns about the state of the vehicle as presented for a pit-test. They agreed that higher standards were demanded from the Licence Holder and his failure to accept much of the responsibility for the condition of the vehicle made the situation worse. In addition, some of the receipts presented appeared to lack authenticity.

Ultimately, members were minded to take serious action against the Licence Holder who had failed to perform adequate maintenance on his vehicle and appeared to lack basic mechanical knowledge or be able to operate a simple maintenance schedule.

Resolved:

1.To suspend the Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licence and Hackney Carriage vehicle Driver’s Licence for a period of two months to encourage future compliance and given the seriousness of the faults identified with the vehicle.

2.To Impose the following conditions on the Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licence:

·         All inspections must be recorded in writing and this written record must include a list of action taken as a result of the inspection.

·         The licence holder is 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 2 years.

·         Records of all servicing to be retained for 2 years, those servicing records to contain the date, vehicle registration number & 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  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To note the date of the next scheduled meeting as 25 February 2020 in Committee

Room A, Town Hall, Blackpool.

The date of the next scheduled meeting was noted as 25 February 2020.