Agenda and minutes

It was moved by Councillor M Specht, seconded by Councillor J Hoult and

RESOLVED THAT:

Councillor R Ashman take the Chair for the remainder of the meeting.

There were no apologies for absence.

Under the Code of Conduct members are reminded that in declaring disclosable interests you should make clear the nature of that interest and whether it is pecuniary or non-pecuniary.

There were no declarations of interest.

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.

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 or exempt information as defined in paragraph 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act, an in the circumstances of the matter under consideration, the public interest in disclosing the information.

Report of the Licensing Enforcement Officer

Exempt under Schedule 12A, part 1, paragraph 1 and 3

The Licensing Enforcement Officer presented the report, which asked Members to determine whether the licensed driver was still a fit and proper person to hold his licence following the receipt of a complaint.

There were no questions for the Licensing Enforcement Officer.

With the agreement of the Members, the licensed driver gave his representation by providing the following responses to questions from his solicitor, Mr J Weston:

-        Regarding the subject of the complaint, the account of events given to the Licensing Enforcement Officer during interview was honest.

-        The complainants first raised the question about the fare midway through the journey as they claimed to have paid twenty to twenty five pounds in the past.  He told them that as a price had not been agreed prior to the journey he had to take the fare from the meter, which would be approximately forty pounds by the time they arrived at their destination.

-        The complainants did not react well to the approximate fare price given and accused him of overcharging.  He asked them on numerous occasions to call Yellow Cabs to check the price but they refused to do so. 

-        The conversation in relation to ending the journey and dropping the complainants off, first occurred after it was clear they were not going to call Yellow Cabs for a price or pay the fare.

-        In relation to the reported bad language used during the journey, he explained that he felt he had done everything possible to complete the journey and receive his fare.  He acknowledged that he did swear twice but this was out of frustration at the situation and it was not aimed directly at the complainants.

In response to a question from Councillor M Specht, the licensed driver explained that he could not remember exactly the context of the conversation in which he swore but he acknowledged that  he had said ‘f***ing hell’ to himself out of frustration.

In response to a question from Councillor R Ashman, the licensed driver stated that he reported the incident on Monday morning to his employer so that it could be put on record.

Mr D Underwood, Managing Director of Yellow Cabs, addressed the Committee.  He confirmed that the incident was reported to him as previously stated and a note was made should a complaint be made.  In relation to the fare charged for the journey, he clarified that the complainants usually travelled with a taxi firm local to Syston, which obviously used different rates.  He also clarified that with Yellow Cabs, the journey in question would usually cost twenty-eight pounds but as it was after midnight the rate was increased by a third and would be approximately thirty-eight pounds, therefore the licensed driver was accurate with his approximation.  He added that at no point was a quote requested for the journey.  He concluded that the licensed driver had been an employee of Yellow Cabs for six years and by using the computer information available from the previous  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.