Meeting documents

Taxi and Private Hire Sub Committee
Monday, 9th June, 2008 6.30 pm

Item	Description	Resolution
Declaration of interests - members are reminded that following the adoption by Council of the new Code of Conduct, any declaration of interest should be made having regard to the new code. In particular, members must make clear the nature of the interest and whether it is 'personal' or 'prejudicial'. The Monitoring Officer would like to remind members that when they are considering whether the following items are exempt information under the relevant paragraph under part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 they must have regard to the public interest test. This means that members must consider, for each item, whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure outweighs the public interest in making the item available to the public.
1	ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN	RESOLVED THAT: Councillor N Smith take the Chair for the meeting.
2	APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE There were no apologies for absence.
3	DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest.
4	EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC	RESOLVED THAT: In pursuance of Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act, and in the circumstances of the matter under consideration, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.
The officers consider that the press and public should be excluded during consideration of the following items in accordance with Section 100(a) of the Local Government Act 1972 as publicity would be likely to result in disclosure of exempt or confidential information.
5	APPLICATION FOR A PRIVATE HIRE DRIVER'S LICENCE The Licensing Enforcement Officer introduced the report which asked Members to determine an application to grant a private hire driver's licence. Background information to the application was given and details of a recent CRB check. There were no questions to the Licensing Enforcement Officer from the applicant or Members. The applicant put forward his case. He explained that he did not realise that he had to declare convictions such as speeding and did not realise that he had been formally cautioned. He stated that the caution for common assault was due to an argument with his wife which got out of hand. The applicant did not hit his wife, the only action he took was to hold her hands away so that he would not be hurt. It was stated that it was a neighbour that had called the police and it was a misunderstanding. The applicant confirmed that he and his wife were still together. In response to questions regarding the two traffic offences on his record, the applicant explained that he went through a red light because he was trying to avoid an accident that had occurred behind his car and the speeding incident was a mistake which he apologised for. In response to a question from a Member, the applicant stated that he did not recall signing anything at the police station when he was cautioned, he thought he had received a verbal warning. This was currently being investigated by the CRB due to a request from the applicant. The applicant was reminded that it was stated on the conditions of the licence that all offences had to be declared and that this was something the applicant should have been aware of. The Licensing Enforcement Officer gave a brief closing statement and explained that although the applicant had suffered bad health in the past, the Council had had a satisfactory medical examination. The applicant gave a brief closing statement and apologised for bringing Members to the meeting and for the incidents he had been involved in. At 6.50pm the Sub Committee adjourned to consider its decision. The meeting reconvened at 7.30pm. (Attachment: 1)Report of the Licensing Enforcement Officer (Attachment: 2)Appendices	RESOLVED THAT: The application for a private hire driver's licence be approved and a warning issued to any future failure to comply with the conditions of the licence. Any future breach of the conditions of the licence would result in the applicant's licence being suspended with immediate effect by the Licensing Enforcement Officers and a report brought back to the committee so that revocation of the licence could be considered.

Published on Tuesday, 17th June, 2008

The meeting closed at 7.35pm.

Attendance Details

Present:

Councillors P Holland, D Howe and N Smith.

Officers: Mr D Gill, Miss E McHugh and Miss R Levy.

Applicant in attendance.