Agenda item

To consider licence holders who have been convicted of offences or who have otherwise given reasons for concern.

(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 considered referrals in respect of existing Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licence holders.

i.                 D.N.G.

Mr Ryan Ratcliffe, Licensing Enforcement Officer, presented the case and explained that D.N.G. had recently transferred a Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licence into their name which was subject to a number of additional conditions as a legacy of poor maintenance issues by the previous licence holder. D.N.G. had submitted a written request for those conditions to be removed which the Licensing Service supported as it had no concerns over D.N.G’s ability to maintain their vehicle to the required standard.

D.N.G. appeared before the Sub-Committee and explained that they had not come to the attention of the Licensing Service for any maintenance issues when they previously held a Private Hire Vehicle Licence. Referring to their record of good conduct D.N.G. considered the conditions unnecessary and requested that Members agreed to their removal from the licence.

The Sub-Committee considered the information provided and agreed to remove the conditions from the licence.

Resolved:

To remove the following conditions attached to D.N.G.’s Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licence:

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

2.      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.

3.      Records of all servicing to be retained for 2 years, those servicing records to contain the date, vehicle registration number and mileage of the vehicle

4.      All service/inspection records must be legible

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

6.      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.                E.R.C.

Mr Ryan Ratcliffe, Licensing Officer, reported that on 20 September 2021 E.R.C. presented a licensed Hackney Carriage Vehicle for inspection at Blackpool Council’s Central Vehicle Maintenance Unit which failed due to a number of defects being identified. Two of those defects were classified as dangerous and the vehicle was issued with a prohibition notice and suspended from use as a Hackney Carriage. The Sub-Committee was shown a video recording of the inspection highlighting in particular that the tyres were excessively worn. Mr Ratcliffe expressed concerns in respect of the maintenance of the vehicle and recommended the minimum of a strict warning be issued and conditions applied to E.R.C.’s vehicle licence.

E.R.C. explained that they would normally take their vehicle to a garage to be checked by a mechanic before presenting it for inspection but on this occasion had failed to do so. They informed the Sub-Committee that the vehicle had recently been fitted with four new tyres and produced a number of receipts for general servicing and tyre replacements within the previous two months. E.R.C. apologised for the vehicle’s condition and assured Members that they would ensure the vehicle was thoroughly checked in future.

The Sub-Committee questioned how new tyres could be so badly worn after a few weeks of use, Mr Ratcliffe suggested to Members that another fault identified at the inspection could have caused excessive wear if the tyres had not been correctly tracked after being fitted. He considered that this further demonstrated that the vehicle had not been maintained satisfactorily.

The Sub-Committee expressed serious concerns about the condition of the vehicle as it was presented for its inspection and the ability of E.R.C. to spot obvious defects or perform adequate maintenance on the vehicle. It did not feel that the licence holder recognised the severity of the defects or the dangers they posed and concluded that serious action should be taken.

Resolved:

1.     To suspend E.R.C.’s Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licence for a period of two weeks.

2.     To issue E.R.C. with a severe warning letter that in the event of any future misconduct or issues with vehicle maintenance the licence may be suspended or revoked.

3.     To impose the following conditions on E.R.C.’s Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licence:

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

      ii.          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 two years.

    iii.          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.

    iv.          All service/inspection records must be legible.

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

    vi.          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.