Meeting documentation

Meeting documents

Taxi and Private Hire Sub Committee
Monday, 4th October, 2010 6.30 pm

ItemDescriptionResolution
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 P Holland take the Chair for the meeting.
2 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
There were no apologies for absence.
 
3 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
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 CONSIDERATION OF A PRIVATE HIRE OPERATOR'S LICENCE
The Licensing Enforcement Officer presented the report and highlighted the options available for Members.

There were no questions for the Licensing Enforcement Officer.

The licence holder presented his case. He stated that he did not dispute what was stated within the report and assured Members that the procedures had been reviewed to prevent a reoccurrence. He explained that the member of staff responsible for the running of the bus service had been removed from her post since the incident regarding the missed MOT, he then went on to introduce the newly appointed Operations Manager who had accompanied him to the meeting. The licence holder explained how the hotel now used electronic reminders regarding the MOT, insurance and any inspections that were required and assured Members that there would be no further problems in the future.

In response to a number of questions from Members, the licence holder stated the following:

- There were usually two drivers employed to run the bus service but currently there was only one.

- The communication between the two drivers was poor due to working different shifts. The bus was a leased vehicle and had to follow certain procedures when in need of repair, this was the reason damages were not rectified sooner.

- There was no customer feedback regarding the bus.

- At the time, the management were not aware of all the requirements involved in holding a private hire operators licence as they were running a courtesy bus service not a taxi service.

Members raised concerns regarding the period of six weeks when the vehicle did not have an MOT or valid insurance. The licence holder explained that disciplinary action had been taken on the member of staff who was at fault and assured members that it would not happen again.

In response to a comment from a Member, the licence holder stated that he would be happy for the Licensing Enforcement Officer to visit the premises and inspect the logs, reminders and procedures that have been put in place. He assured Members that he would be personally monitoring the situation to ensure the service is run smoothly.

In response to comments from Members regarding his attitude towards the situation, the licence holder stated that he had not been supercilious but was not aware of the legislation and importance of the Council's policies at the time.

As a closing statement, the Licensing Enforcement Officer reminded Members of the importance of public safety when considering the case.

The licence holder did not take the opportunity to give a closing statement.

The Sub Committee adjourned for consideration at 6.55pm and reconvened at 7.42pm.
  • (Attachment: 1)Report of the Licensing Enforcement Officer
RESOLVED THAT:

The Private Hire Operators Licence be revoked.

Advice was given regarding the right of appeal.
Published on Thursday, 7th October, 2010
The meeting closed at 7.50pm.

Attendance Details

Present:
Councillors D Everitt, P Holland and E J Purver.

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

The license holder was in attendance accompanied by a colleague.