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 interests on this occasion.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 24^th November 2015 as a true and correct record.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th November 2015 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

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 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 three existing Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle drivers and one new Hackney Carriage licence applicant that had given sufficient cause for concern as to be referred to the Sub-Committee for consideration.

Members discussed the application and referrals as follows:

(i)                 JH – Existing Hackney Carriage Driver

Mr Marshall, Licensing Health and Safety Enforcement Manager, who was in attendance during consideration of the case presented it on behalf of the Authority. Mr Ratcliffe, Licensing Officer, was also in attendance.

JH was in attendance with another driver who witnessed the incident. Both provided representations to the Sub-Committee.

Members noted that at the previous meeting it had been agreed to defer consideration of the case to allow the complainant a chance to appear and present his version of events in relation to the incident. The complainant was not in attendance but the Sub-Committee were satisfied he had been notified of the meeting.

The Sub-Committee was advised of the incident in which, the complainant alleged that the driver had been verbally abusive and had acted violently when confronted following an exchange with the complainant’s wife, but the Police had decided not to pursue the matter further. The driver described his version of events and alleged that it had been the complainant that had acted aggressively and violently rather than himself. He added that, in his opinion, he had shown restraint and had reacted to extreme provocation.

The Sub-Committee considered the drivers clean track record and the supporting statement made by the other driver, which cast doubt on the complainant’s version of events and removed concerns that the driver may have been the aggressor.

Resolved:

To take no further action against the driver in relation to the alleged incident.

(ii)               MD – Existing Hackney Carriage Driver

Mr Ratcliffe presented the case on behalf of the Authority.

MD was in attendance and provided representations to the Sub-Committee.

The Sub-Committee was advised of an incident in which, it was alleged that the driver had behaved aggressively and driven dangerously whilst operating his taxi and had been involved in an altercation with a member of the public.

The driver claimed that the complainant’s version of events contained a number of inaccuracies in relation to the alleged incident.  He expressed regret that he had responded after being verbally abused by the complainant and he claimed he previously had footage from his in-car CCTV system that refuted the claims made by the complainant, but added that the recording had been automatically deleted by the system two weeks after the incident.

Members considered the lack of firm evidence that included the deleted CCTV footage and agreed that the driver should not have responded to the verbal attack.  However, it was agreed that the driver had demonstrated remorse in relation to the incident and had a long record without any previous cause for concern.

Resolved:

1.      That a warning letter be issued in relation to future conduct in relation to future conduct indicating that in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 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)

Members were requested to consider whether a number of conditions that had been imposed on a Hackney Carriage licence were still reasonably necessary.

Members considered the referral as follows.

(i)                 APW – Existing Hackney Carriage licence

Mr Ratcliffe presented the case on behalf of the Authority.

APW was in attendance and made representations to the Sub-Committee.

Mr Ratcliffe advised Members that the conditions applied to the Hackney Carriage licence had been transferred from the previous licence holder and the driver had simply inherited them. Since inheriting the licence, both the driver and the vehicle he operated had given no cause for concern to the Licensing Service.

The driver reported that he held a number of other Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licences and had previously successfully applied to have conditions removed from several of those.

Resolved:

That all conditions imposed on the Hackney Carriage driver’s licence be removed as they had applied to the previous driver and were not applicable to the current driver.

Background papers: exempt

To note the date of the next meeting as Tuesday 23^rd February 2016.

Members noted that the date of the next meeting would be Tuesday 23^rd February 2016.