Agenda and minutes

No declarations were made.

It is recommended that members of the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following item on the grounds that it will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 and it is considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED that members of the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following item on the grounds that it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 and it was considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

To review an Operator’s Licence in accordance with the Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy.

The Chair of the Sub-committee will ask the parties present to introduce themselves and will explain the procedure to be followed in considering this matter.

An exempt report of the Licensing Manager is enclosed for the Sub-committee’s consideration.

Considered an exempt report of the Licensing Manager to review a Private Hire Operator Licence in accordance with the Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy (item 3 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

The following parties attended:

Persons representing the Private Hire Operator Licence Holder (4);

Head of Regulatory Services

Licensing Enforcement Officers (CL, PR)

Legal Advisor to the Sub-committee (SK)

Introductions were made and the procedure to be followed explained.

The Head of Regulatory Services presented the exempt report and answered questions from members of the Sub-committee and other parties present. 

Persons representing the Private Hire Operator Licence Holder were given the opportunity to set out the reasons why the Operator ought to be considered as fit and proper to continue to hold a Private Hire Operator Licence and answered questions from members of the Sub-committee and other parties present.

The persons representing the Private Hire Operator Licence Holder were given the opportunity to sum up and make any final comments.

Members of the Sub-committee retired from the meeting to give the matter full and detailed consideration and to consider their decision.  They were accompanied by the Legal Advisor (for the purposes only of advising on the law and on suitable wording for the Sub-committee’s decision).

On return to the meeting, the Legal Advisor read out the Licensing Sub-committee’s decision on its behalf.  The Private Hire Operator Licence Holder would also be sent that decision in writing.

RESOLVED

1.            that the Operator be allowed to retain its Private Hire Operator Licence;

2.         that the Council Penalty Points on the Private Hire Operator Licence remain on that licence for the remainder of the period for which they were originally applied.

Reason  

The Sub-committee considered carefully the evidence submitted and what action would be appropriate, concluding that the actions set out above were appropriate to its principal aim of ensuring public safety, in particular accepting that improvements had been made to systems to prevent similar offences in the future.