Agenda and minutes

The Democratic Services Officer drew attention to the Emergency Evacuation 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.

(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 4.4 Appendix 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 Officer or a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There were none.

There was none.

The Sub-Committee RESOLVED to approve the minutes for the meeting held on 13^th July 2023 and they were duly signed by the Chair.

The driver that was present confirmed that he had received and understood the licensing procedure.

The Chairman referenced the procedure and stated that the driver would be given a fair amount of time to make a statement and give his evidence to the Sub-Committee.

The Sub-Committee is asked to consider passing the following resolution:

“the Sub-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 following item(s) 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 members of the Sub-Committee agreed that they were 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.

It was RESOLVED that the public be excluded from the meeting for the following 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 Public Protection Officer (Licensing) introduced the report to the Sub-Committee. He explained that they were being asked to determine the driver’s fitness to be granted to hold a combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Driver’s licence.

The members of the Sub-Committee had no questions for the officer at this stage.

The driver addressed the Sub-Committee and explained that when he had previously held a licence he had received no complaints about his conduct from any members of the public.

He stated that he understood his illness and that he was receiving support for it from his doctor and consultant. He added that he was taking medication to manage his condition.

Councillor Toby Simon asked the driver if he anticipated working late at night as he had done when he had previously held a licence.

The driver replied that he did not intend to work late at night and would begin by working just a few hours in the day and then occasionally working until 10.00pm / 11.00pm.

The Lead Officer (Licensing) asked how he would respond when inevitably business at the ranks begins to pick up in the later part of the evening.

The driver replied that his health absolutely comes first and that he would not continue to work into the early hours of the morning.

The Team Leader, Legal Services noted that he had previously decided to stop taking his medication and asked if it was likely that he would do that again.

The driver replied that he greatly understands the need to keep taking his medication and that he would not stop taking it. He added that he had also stopped smoking and had begun going to the gym to help improve his health.

The Chair asked if he had any form of support network in place outside of the professionals that help and advise him.

The driver replied that he meets with a care co-ordinator once a month and has family support, especially from an older sister.

The Chair asked if he had given all the evidence that he had wished to the Sub-Committee.

The driver replied that he had.

Decision and Reasons

Members have had to determine an application for a combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Driver’s Licence with regard to the applicant’s medical condition. 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, they also took full account of the report by the officer, the medical evidence submitted and oral representations from the applicant.

The applicant indicated that he used to be a driver in the past and had no problems with his passengers and no complaints. He acknowledged his illness but indicated that this was being managed with medication and the support of his doctors. He confirmed to Members that he has a wider support network which includes his care co-ordinator and is very close with his family, especially his older sister.

The applicant recognised the importance of his medication  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.