Agenda and minutes

The Democratic Services Officer advised the meeting of the procedure.

There were none.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There were none.

There was none.

These were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Chair drew attention to the procedure to be followed for agenda items 8 and 9.

The Committee is asked to consider passing the following resolution:

“the Committee having been satisfied that the public interest would be better served by not disclosing relevant information, in accordance with the provisions of Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, RESOLVES that the public shall be excluded from the meeting for the next two items of business and the reporting of the meeting be prevented under Section 100A(5A), because of the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended.   

The Committee having been satisfied that the public interest would be better served by not disclosing relevant information RESOLVED in accordance with the provisions of Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the public should be excluded from the meeting for the next two items of business and the reporting of the meeting be prevented under Section 100A(5A), because of the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended.   

Mr M F confirmed that he understood the procedure to be followed for this hearing.

The Senior Public Protection Officer summarised the report and provided Members with a copy of a DBS certificate in respect of Mr M F and a copy of a statement submitted by him. The hearing was adjourned to allow Members time to study these documents.

After the adjournment Mr M F stated his case and was questioned by Members. Mr M F introduced a witness, who made a statement on his behalf and was questioned by Members.

Mr MF did not wish to make a closing statement.

Following a further adjournment the Sub-Committee RESOLVED that Mr M F continued to be a fit and proper person to hold a combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Driver’s Licence, but that he should be given a warning that he must comply strictly with the conditions of his licence in future.

Reasons

Members have had to determine what action, if any, to take against the holder of a combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Driver’s Licence who has received a caution and a conviction during the course of his licence. In doing so they took account of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, Human Rights Act 1998, case law and the Council’s Policy.

Members took account of the licensee’s oral representations, his written statement and the representations of his witness and balanced these against the information contained in the Disclosure and Barring Service report.

Accordingly Members had to decide whether or not the licensee continued to be a fit and proper person to hold a licence taking into account all the circumstances including his driving history and character.

Members noted that Mr M F had been licensed as a Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Driver since 2009 and that he had received a police caution in 2010 and a conviction for two offences in 2014. It would seem that neither matter on his record had been declared by Mr M F in accordance with the conditions of his licence although his account was that he had provided his DBS Certificate to Licensing in 2013 which would have revealed the caution on his record. He accepted however, that he had failed to declare his conviction from 2014 and that had only come to light as a result of the triennial DBS checks.

Members noted that Mr M F had received his most recent conviction within the last 3 years and that it was therefore caught by the policy however, they could depart from that policy having regard to the full facts of the case. Members had regard to the fact that the caution and conviction related to his former wife and that he went through a difficult time culminating in a divorce. As a result of the conviction he had undertaken a course regarding relationships which he had found beneficial. Mr M F assured members that he had taken control of his life now.  Members noted that Mr M F had held a BANES  ...  view the full minutes text for item 102.

Mr M G M informed the Sub-Committee that he was still waiting for his medical certificate and requested that the hearing of his application be deferred until he had received it.

RESOLVED that the hearing of Mr M G M’s application should be deferred until he has received the medical certificate.

Mr M G M was advised that if he fails to attend on the new date, the hearing may proceed in his absence.

Reasons

Members were due to determine an application for a combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Driver’s licence where a medical condition had been disclosed. 

The Council received a request from the applicant on 15^th March 2016 for the Licensing Sub-Committee’s consideration of the application to be deferred pending receipt of a report from his Mental Health Consultant. The applicant renewed this request in person before the Licensing Sub-Committee today.

In all the circumstances the Licensing Sub-Committee considered Mr M G M’s request to be reasonable and therefore resolved to defer the determination of the application to a date to be notified. The Licensing Sub-Committee informed Mr M G M that if he fails to attend the next hearing then the matter may proceed in his absence.