Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED: That Councillor Cooper be elected chair

RESOLVED: that the minutes for the Sub- Committee meeting on 26 October 2022  be approved and signed as a correct record.

At a predetermined point during the consideration of all items the Sub-Committee may move into private session in order to receive legal advice when determining issues. The parties to the hearing, press and the public, unless otherwise excluded will be invited to return immediately following that private session at which time the matter will be determined and the decision of the Sub-Committee will be announced.

The Sub-Committee has considered very carefully the report of the Service Director – Communities, Culture and Homes and all the evidence presented today by the Licensing Officers, the driver and his representative, including references submitted today. 

It has given due regard to the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 “the Act” and the guidelines relating to the application of the “fit and proper person” test and other considerations of character, in particular two character references supplied by the driver. The Human Rights Act has been borne in mind whilst making the decision.

The Sub-Committee considered all the facts and has decided that the driver is not a fit and proper person in accordance with the Act and therefore his private hire taxi driver licence must therefore be revoked. The Sub-Committee also decided that in the interests of public safety the revocation should be with immediate effect. The reasons for this decision are outlined as follows:

Reasons for Decision

The Licensing Officers addressed the Sub-Cttee highlighting the nature and number of complaints.  The Sub-Cttee was referred to the Taxi Policy and guidance around the fit and proper test as it relates to convictions, complaints, and patterns of behaviour. As stated above, the Sub-Committee also took into account two character references that had been provided by the driver.

The Sub-Cttee considered that the driver does not meet the fit and proper test in terms of being able to hold a private hire taxi driver licence and the licence should therefore be revoked.

When questioned about the complaints the driver failed to provide adequate responses which actually addressed the nature of the complaints and the questions put to him about the complaints. The driver stated that he either couldn’t recall the incidents and/or that he didn’t have enough information about them in order to comment on them.  He also denied all three incidents that led to the complaints being made.  The driver with regards to the complaints, did state on more than one occasion that passengers in his taxi are able to leave the taxi at anytime if they feel uncomfortable during the journey and stated that if the complainants did feel uncomfortable then why did they not exit the vehicle there and then. The Sub-Committee considered that this did not indicate that the driver appeared to be particularly concerned for the safety of passengers, as to do what was suggested, could result in passengers being left in a remote location nowhere near to their home during either the day or night with no other transport in place to get them home safely.  The Sub-committee considered that the option of leaving the vehicle, as suggested by the driver, was not, in practice, a viable or appropriate option for passengers.

The driver stated that he stopped working with Uber approximately 11 weeks ago, around the time he was suspended by Uber. Sub-Committee noted this was around the same time that the third complaint was received. The driver appeared to have simply moved to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.