Minutes:
The Director: Communities submitted a report advising members of a review of a 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 - That after hearing the submissions made by the licence holder, their legal representative, and the Licensing Authority, at the hearing on 29 February 2024, the Licensing (Miscellaneous) Sub-Committee carefully considered the information presented, including their responses to questions, and that contained within the agenda bundle as part of their deliberations.
The sub-committee were deeply concerned to hear evidence that the licence holder was directly linked to Ashby Cars Ltd. This was of grave concern to the sub-committee as Ashby Cars Ltd’s Private Hire Operators Licence was revoked on 21 December 2023, for using an unlicensed driver to fulfil a substantial number of Private Hire bookings on their behalf. The vehicle used on these journeys was also uninsured.
In
addition, the sub-committee were also concerned to hear that seven
vehicles the licence holder was previously operating/using, which
were inspected by the Council’s Fleet Services Department
were deemed not to be in a safe condition internally or externally
in accordance with the Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private
Hire Licensing Policy. As a result of the breaches of the Hackney
Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy, the licence holder was
issued with 84 warning points, which were due to be removed on 8
March 2024.
Due to the little time that had passed
since the revocation of the Private Hire Operator Licence for Ashby
Cars Ltd, coupled with the licence holder still being an active
Director of the company Ashby Cars Ltd, and that the licence holder
sought to transfer their Private Hire Operators Licence to Ashby
Cars Ltd within days of the licence being approved, the
sub-committee concluded that they had little confidence that the
licence holder understood the actions required of them to comply
with the conditions of their licence. In addition, the
sub-committee did not believe that the licence holder understood
the importance of ensuring that required standards are adhered to
at all times. The safety of the public was the sub-committees
paramount consideration, in particular the welfare and safeguarding
of vulnerable adults and children. The sub-committee expected a
standard of behaviour which provided a positive image at all times
of the taxi trade in North Lincolnshire.
The sub-committee gave great consideration and particular weight to
paragraph 4.48 and 3.40 of the adopted ‘Guidance on
determining the suitability of applicants and licensees in the
hackney and private hire trades’ produced by the Institute of
Licensing, and Table 9 at paragraph 7 of Appendix E (Guidance to
Members – Applications and Reviews of Private Hire Operators
Licences) of the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy
during their deliberations. Consequently, the sub-committee
unanimously agreed to revoke the Private Hire Operators Licence as
the sub-committee did not consider the licence holder to be a fit
and proper person in accordance with section 55 of the Local
Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.