Agenda and draft minutes

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Contact: Mark Durnford  01225 394458

Items
No. Item

107.

EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURE

The Chair will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 5 on the previous page.

Minutes:

The Democratic Services Officer drew attention to the Emergency Evacuation Procedure.

 

108.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS

Minutes:

There were none.

109.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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.

 

Minutes:

There were none.

110.

TO ANNOUNCE ANY URGENT BUSINESS AGREED BY THE CHAIR

Minutes:

There was none.

111.

LICENSING PROCEDURE pdf icon PDF 80 KB

The Chair will, if required, explain the licensing procedure.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair referenced the procedure that would be followed during the course of the meeting.

 

Those that were present confirmed that they had received and understood the licensing procedure.

 

112.

EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC

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.   

Minutes:

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.

 

113.

Consideration of “Fit and Proper” Status – 2025/JAN/01/TAXI pdf icon PDF 121 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Public Protection Officer (Licensing) introduced the report to the Sub-Committee. She explained that they were being asked whether the licensee remains fit and proper to hold a combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Drivers licence issued by this authority.

 

The licensee acknowledged the issue of vaping within their vehicle in 2019 and stated that at the time the terms and conditions of being a driver did not mention vaping specifically. The licensee added that once this point had been clarified with a member of the Licensing team they stopped and had not done so since.

 

The licensee addressed the complaint made in 2021 regarding a fare refusal and said that at the time they were working for Veezu and were allowed to cancel a job if their customer did not arrive within five minutes of the agreed pick-up time.

 

The licensee added that when they returned to the same area one hour later the same customer approached them and asked to be taken home. The licensee explained that he could not accept their request as they were not a booked job on his screen. He said that the people in question were also heavily drunk.

 

The licensee said that another accusation regarding that night was that they had accepted a better paying fare. The licensee explained that drivers for Veezu in 2021 would not know what their next job was.

 

The licensee referred to the complaint made in 2022 and said that they believed that they were acting in the best interests of the family concerned by parking as close to their home as possible to enable their disabled child to have only a short distance to travel from his vehicle to their home.

 

Referring to the three speeding offences the licensee said that there had been no excuse for these events. They said that at times they may have been under some personal stress, but this did not justify their actions and said that they would be more mindful now.

 

The licensee explained that following their court appearance in 2024 they had been allowed to keep their driving licence due to mitigating circumstances.

 

The licensee stated that they acknowledge the seriousness of all these events combined and would learn from this experience.

 

Councillor Toby Simon asked a question in relation to the complaint from 2022. He asked the licensee what their role was in notifying the taxi operator that resulted in their email to the Licensing team.

 

The licensee replied that they carry out a school run on behalf of Zippee and that following the incident they had informed the operator of what had happened. The licensee added that the operator had said that they knew the complainant.

 

The licensee admitted that they were wearing shorts that day, but had forgotten their badge. They insisted that they had not sworn during the incident.

 

Councillor Simon asked if he had committed any other driving offences.

 

The licensee replied that no further offences had been committed within the past year.

 

The licensee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 113.

114.

Consideration of “Fit and Proper” Status – 2025/JAN/02/TAXI pdf icon PDF 125 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Public Protection Officer (Licensing) introduced the report to the Sub-Committee. She explained that they were being asked whether the licensee remains fit and proper to hold a combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Drivers licence issued by this authority.

 

Councillor Toby Simon asked why the complaint from July 2016 had not been reported to the Sub-Committee that met in August 2022.

 

The Public Protection Officer (Licensing) replied that she was not able to comment on why this had been the case.

 

The licensee stated that they were not aware of this complaint and asked for it to be removed from their record.

 

The Chair said that the Sub-Committee would disregard the complaint in the context of this meeting.

 

The licensee addressed the matter of the insurance certificate that was submitted in September 2024. They acknowledged that it had been submitted one day late said that they had not noticed that it did not cover the vehicle for public hire use or use as a Hackney Carriage. The licensee explained that the insurance company had accepted that they had made an error by issuing the wrong certificate.

 

The licensee added that they would never knowingly drive without insurance in place as their licence was too important to them.

 

The licensee said that they understood that they had breached a number of conditions of their licence. They explained to the Sub-Committee that they drive for around 60 hours per week, were now a single parent and that they try to do the best they can in their role.

 

They said that the majority of their paperwork is sent in on time, but said that many things had happened recently in their personal life.

 

Councillor Ann Morgan asked the licensee if they had considered using a calendar app, e.g. Cozi, to help with reminders for things such as insurance and MOT.

 

The licensee replied that this sounded like a good idea.

 

The Chair commented that MOT reminders could also be set through the DVLA app.

 

Councillor Toby Simon referred to the speeding offences and asked if any customers were within the vehicle at the time of these offences.

 

The licensee replied that there were no passengers present in the vehicle on any of those occasions. They added that they now use Google Maps to make them more aware of the changes in speed limit as they drive.

 

Councillor Simon asked if driving for 60 hours a week was too much.

 

The licensee replied that they do take regular breaks whilst driving during the day.

 

The Chair asked if somebody within their family or a close friend could help them with the paperwork.

 

The licensee replied that they could possibly ask a family member to help. They also thanked the Sub-Committee for their advice regarding the Cozi and DVLA apps. They added that they would also consider taking some time off during the week to allocate towards administrative duties.

 

The licensee said that they would do their upmost not to breach any of their conditions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 114.

115.

Consideration of Fit and Proper Status – 2025/JAN/03/TAXI pdf icon PDF 120 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Public Protection Officer (Licensing) introduced the report to the Sub-Committee. She explained that they were being asked whether the licensee remains fit and proper to hold a combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Drivers licence issued by this authority.

 

She added that some additional information had also been circulated to them and the licensee earlier in the week.

 

Councillor Toby Simon asked if this information should be taken into account as part of today’s meeting or was merely background information.

 

The Public Protection Officer (Licensing) replied that it should be taken into account from the point of view of the safety of the licensee’s vehicle.

 

The licensee said that they admit that they have made some mistakes and that they are not always good with communications and IT. The licensee added that they have enrolled in a local college course to improve their IT skills.

 

The licensee referred to the road traffic accident in September 2024 and explained that their vehicle had been stationary at the time of the incident and that only a small amount of damage to their vehicle had occurred.

 

The licensee said that despite the late submission of their insurance certificates their vehicle had always been correctly insured. They added that on the most recent occasion in July they had asked their son to submit it on their behalf.

 

The Chair reminded the licensee that even if their son was to help with any paperwork it was still their responsibility to make sure everything is submitted correctly and on time.

 

The Public Protection Officer (Licensing) referred to an email that had been sent to the licensee on 23rd December 2024 regarding the tread depth of their offside rear tyre and asked if it had yet been replaced.

 

The licensee replied that the tyre had been replaced on the day that this email had been received.

 

The licensee’s son addressed the Sub-Committee. He said that they understood the seriousness of the situation and apologised for the errors that have been made. He said that the licensee was a good people person and that the job gives them joy.

 

Decision & Reasons

 

Members have had to consider whether or not the licensee is a fit and proper person to continue to hold their combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Driver’s licence in the light of failures to comply with the conditions related to their licences. In doing so Members took account of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, Human Rights Act 1998, case law and the Council Policy. 

 

Members had received one lot of additional information which was shared by the Licensing Section comprising 13 pages and relating to vehicle inspection reports, an MOT test report showing an advisory in relation to a tyre, and a complaint made by the Licensee’s son to the Licensing Section. The Licensee had been provided with a copy of this additional information, in advance of the hearing and had acknowledged receipt.

 

Members had read the Licensee’s written explanations as contained in the agenda report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 115.