Agenda item

Members of the Licensing Sub-Committee have had to consider whether an applicant was a fit and proper person to hold a combined Hackney Carriage / Private Hire Drivers licence issued by Bath and North East Somerset Council to drive in the Bath and North East Somerset area, subject to the conditions attached to the license and a satisfactory DBS check and DVLA check as appropriate.

In doing so they took account of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 s 51(1) licensing of drivers of private hire vehicles, s 59 qualifications for drivers of Hackney Carriages, s 61 suspension and revocation of drivers’ licenses, and Human Rights Act 1998, case law and the Council’s Policy.

Members reminded themselves that each case is taken on its merit, any economic impact of the decision is irrelevant and with public protection being of paramount importance the whole of a person’s character is relevant.

Members had to:

• Consider the evidence presented by the licensing officers and the applicant.
• Had to determine the issue of whether the applicant was a fit and proper person the hold a private hire / hackney carriage license
• Had to take any suitable action including consideration of attaching to the grant of a licence under section 51 Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 s 51(1) such extra conditions as they consider reasonably necessary; a suspension or a decision not to renew the license under s 61.

Licensing Officers Report

The applicant has held a licence since 2 July 2013.  The last licence expired on 28 February 2022 and is due for renewal.  The applicant submitted an application for renewal on 28 January 2022.

This hearing and consideration was triggered by information obtained on the consideration of the applicant’s application for renewal of his Private Hire / Hackney Carriage Drivers License. 

The Licensing Officer gave his report.

The applicant was given a previous warning in 2016 for non-disclosure of two speeding offences obtained in 2015.

In the renewal application on 28 January 2022 the application form contained a standard question “Have you been convicted or cautioned for any offence (including motoring & fixed penalties) since the grant of your last licence?”.

The applicant stated ‘Yes’ “SP30 points replaced those which had expired”.

The conditions attached to the grant of a combined Hackney Carriage/Private

Hire Drivers licence state “Should the Licence holder receive any conviction,

caution or Fixed Penalty Notice for a motoring offence during the period of the

Licence he/she shall within 7 days give the Council written notice of the

conviction, formal caution or Fixed Penalty Notice together with providing

information relating to the circumstances surrounding the offence.

In answer to the question, had he informed the Council of the convictions, the applicant replied ‘No’. 

A DVLA check revealed two speeding offences since the grant of the last license:

• a speeding offence on 8 July 2020 3 penalty points
• a speeding offence on a motorway 17 September 2021 3 penalty points

The applicant had not provided details of the convictions to the Council in accordance with the requirement in his license.

An explanation was requested as to why the applicant had not reported his convictions as required by the requirements of his license.  The applicant replied:

I have no reason not to report these offences just mitigation. On numerous occasions I have attempted to contact your office by telephone and in person but to no avail. There has been a pandemic these past 22 months and many of us have worked almost continually, helping the public and risking our own health. I apologise for my failings but having made endless attempts at notification and eventually simply forgot! I would only be too pleased to discuss this situation before any committee.

And further

I did in fact disclose offence and hid nothing, forwarding full details upon request , even though I had already given DVLA permission to share information with you.

No complaints have been received from members of the public during the term the applicant has been licensed by Bath & North East Somerset Council.

Applicant’s Representations

As above that he had not been able to contact the Council by telephone or in person / that he disclosed the information and had given permission to the DVLA to share information with the Council.

The applicant pointed out that appendix A had been amended and questioned whether there was an error in appendix G. 

The applicant said that he had made a mistake and in response his livelihood had been threatened.  He had sent the licensing officers a screenshot of the DVLA license before the DVLA check was made, the timeline had been distorted.  He had answered truthfully as he had believed at the time and had expected taxi license penalty points, not to have his integrity questioned.  He had paid the fee to renew his license, he had passed his DBS check and had made a mistake.  It was fair comment that he had repeated the mistake. 

Don’t suggest he is not a fit and proper person because he is a bit absent minded and not very good with admin.  As a driver he considers what is DVLA legal.  He tried to inform the office, but not within seven days and he would have to look up how he would do that.  He deals with elderly and the young and he appreciates his duty of care.  He had no answer why he had not informed the licensing office of the convictions, he apologised for not doing so.

Bath and North East Somerset Council Licensing Sub-Committee decision:

Having heard from the licensing officers and the license holder and taking into consideration:

·  that the applicant had a previous warning for not reporting speeding convictions in 2015

·  that the applicant has had two speeding convictions, one of which was on a motorwaysince the issue of the last license

·  the failure to follow the requirements of the license to report motoring convictions

·  no explanation as to why the applicant had not been able to contact the Council by email or in writing within the timescales

The license is renewed but suspended until 1 May 2022.  The applicant is advised that any further breach of license conditions could have a different outcome.