The Council has received an application for a hackney carriage / private hire driver’s licence. The licensing team have information which may call in to question the applicant’s suitability to hold a licence.
Minutes:
Members of the Sub-Committee and officers introduced themselves.
Members of the Committee confirmed that they had no interests to declare and discussed whether to hold the hearing in public or in private.
RESOLVED that under Section 100A (4) of the local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, namely information relating to an individual.
(Proposed by the Chairman)
The Sub Committee had before it a report * from the Director of Corporate Affairs and Business Transformation relating to an application for a Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Licence asking them to consider if the applicant was ‘fit and proper’ to hold a licence.
The Lead Licensing Officer explained that the authority was responsible for licensing the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire trade in Mid Devon. The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, as amended, and the Town Police Clauses Act 1847, provided much of the regulatory framework for that licensing regime.
The Officer explained that the authority had adopted a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy, the most recent version of which came in to effect on 29 February 2016. The policy provided the framework for the administration of the service and set out how the Council would consider both new applications and also matters relating to existing licence holders.
The officer went on to inform Members that according to the policy their priorities in this instance should be the protection of public health and safety and the prevention of crime and disorder. Ultimately, the main aim was public safety.
Members were advised that the applicant had submitted an application to Mid Devon District Council for a new Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Drivers licence on 6 September 2016.
A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate was required and this had an issue date of 11 October 2016. It revealed previous convictions.
The Licensing team had contacted the DBS Service to discuss how this information could be used by decision makers and it had been confirmed that it could not be circulated in advance of the hearing taking place. They had stated that it must only be made available at the hearing itself.
The application submitted for a new Hackney Carriage/Private Hire drivers licence asked the following question and contains the accompanying note:
‘Have you ever been found guilty or convicted of ANY offence, or been made the subject of an order, by a court in the UK or abroad? This means ALL offences, however long ago they happened. If no, insert ‘NONE’.
Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, holders of hackney carriage / private hire drivers licences are classified as exempted posts and all convictions (whether ‘spent’ or not) must be declared. Failure to declare all convictions may affect the outcome of your application’.
The applicant had stated ‘None’ in response to this question. In light of the information received on the DBS this declaration was incorrect.
There was potential for an offence to have been committed under Section 57 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 in relation to not submitting required information that was part of the application. As a result of this, the applicant had been interviewed under caution on 28 October 2016. During this interview he stated that he did not believe that driving offences had to be disclosed and said that this was because of the way the question was worded on the form. He thought the offence would show up on the DBS check so there was no deliberate attempt to mislead the Council as it would have come to light this way.
The Sub Committee withdrew to consider additional information that had not been available to them prior to the meeting.
On their return the Sub Committee put questions to the applicant.
The applicant explained that he had been barred from driving due to a dangerous driving offence in 2012 and had been given a 15 month driving ban, had to take an extended driving test to be able to drive again, and 150 hours community service. He stated that this had been a long time ago and he had grown up a lot since then.
There was some discussion regarding the issue date of the applicant’s current licence as a three year clear period was required before he was eligible to apply for a licence. The date was clarified as being 23 December 2013.
The applicant stated that he had not declared the offence on the application form as he had assumed that a motoring offence was different to a criminal offence.
The applicant explained that in his employment winter hours were often less than summer hours due to reduced sunlight and he had intended to undertake some taxi work to bring in more money to support his growing family.
The Sub Committee withdrew to consider its decision.
The Sub Committee RESOLVED to decline the application for a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licence as they considered, with regard to the obligation to protect public health and safety, that the applicant was not a fit and proper person to hold a licence.
Reasons given for this were within the Mid Devon District Council Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy dated February 2016 and in particular Appendix B:
a) 9.3 The Sub Committee found that the applicant had intentionally misled the council or lied as part of the application process;
b) 14.1 The applicant was disqualified for driving because of a major traffic offence and the period of three years free from conviction had not yet elapsed.
When circumstances changed in the future the Sub Committee suggested that the applicant reapply.
The Sub Committee had regard to current regulation.
The Sub Committee asked that the Licensing Officer liaise with the applicant when the three year period had elapsed.
Note: - Report previously circulated and attached to Minutes.