Minutes:
The Director: Communities submitted a report advising members of a review of a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Operators Licence to be determined by the sub-committee.
The report contained background information on the process for determining such requests, the information to be taken into account and the circumstances in which the sub-committee could revoke a licence.
The options available to the sub-committee when considering such information were:
Ø To take no action.
Ø To warn the licence holder regarding their future conduct.
Ø To add additional conditions to the licence.
Ø To suspend the licence for a set period of time.
Ø To revoke the licence.
Should the sub-committee revoke the licence or impose additional terms, conditions or restrictions then the licence holder may appeal to the Magistrates Court within 21 days from the date on which they were notified of the decision.
Should the Magistrates uphold the decision of the council, the licence holder had further recourse to the Crown Court.
The procedure for dealing with such requests at meetings of the sub-committee had previously been circulated to members.
The Licensing Authority presented the reason for the review being considered by the sub-committee.
The licence holder attended the hearing, accompanied by their legal representative, who made submissions and responded to questions.
Resolved - The Licensing (Miscellaneous) Sub-Committee would like to inform the Licence Holder that the safety of the public was their paramount concern when determining any application.
The councillors were deeply concerned with the number of vehicles held by Licence Holder under their proprietor’s licence that, upon inspection by the council’s Fleet Services department, were deemed to not be to the standard required under the council’s Taxi Licensing Policy. The inspection, in February 2023 and June 2023 identified several breaches of the council’s Taxi Licensing Policy, resulting in the Licence Holder being issued with 39 warning points to their licence.
In determining the application, the Licensing (Miscellaneous) Sub-Committee considered all the information contained within the agenda bundle. The councillors also listened carefully to the representation made by the Licensing Authority, the Licence Holder and their Legal Representative at the hearing on the19 October 2023, including their responses to members questions.
In particular, the Sub-Committee gave particular weight to the fact that the Licence Holder had put sufficient operational procedures in place to prevent vehicles from failing to meet the standard required under the Taxi’ Licensing Policy which included weekly vehicles checks at a mechanical garage owned by the Licence Holder and vehicle check forms being completed by the drivers and handed to the Licence Holder.
In addition, the Sub-Committee gave particular consideration and appropriate weight to paragraph 4.46 and 4.49 of the adopted Guidance on determining the suitability of applicants and licensees in the Hackney and Private Hire trade produced by the institute of Licensing during their deliberations. Councillors also had due regard to paragraph 5.14 of the statutory taxi and private hire vehicles standard during their deliberations. The Sub-committee were satisfied that the operational procedures put in place provided confidence that the Licence Holder would in future ensure that the conditions of the Licence were adhered to, and all vehicles held under their proprietor’s licence would not fall below the required standard in the future.
Therefore, the Sub-Committee agreed to allow the Licence Holder’s Private Hire Operators Licence to continue as they considered them to be a fit and proper person under section 55 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous) Provisions Act 1976. However, the Sub-Committee agreed to impose additional conditions to the Licence Holder’s Operations Licence:
1. Condition 1 – that the Licence holder shall maintain and keep a record of all weekly Driver’s Vehicle Safety Check Sheets provided to them in accordance with their driver Handbook and all Mechanical check sheets produced in relation to the vehicles under their proprietor’s licence: and
2. Condition 2 – all records obtained in relation to the weekly Driver’s vehicle safety check sheets and mechanical sheets shall be made available to an authorised officer of the Licence Authority or Local Authority upon request.
In addition, the Sub-Committee issued a formal warning to the Licence Holder and reminded them that the standing of a fit and proper person applied to their conduct at all times. The Licence Holder should, at all times, adhere to the conditions attached to their licence by communicating with the Licensing Authority and disclosing all relevant information to them throughout the duration they hold a Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Vehicles Drivers Licence. The 39 Warning points associated with the licence would remain on the Licence Holder’s licence until they were due to expire.