Agenda and minutes

It was moved by Councillor K Merrie, seconded by Councillor D Everitt and

RESOLVED THAT:

Councillor J Clarke 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 interests.

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 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.

Report of the Licensing Enforcement Officer

The Chairman introduced the parties and outlined the procedure to be followed.

The Hearing regulations 2005 stated that the Authority must allow parties an equal period of time in which to present their evidence.  It was agreed that the maximum time limit for each presentation be 10 minutes.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer presented the report, which asked members to determine whether the application for a renewal of a dual hire driver’s licence should be granted.

In response to a question from Councillor K Merrie, the Licensing Enforcement Officer explained that a driver did not have to declare any driving licence penalty points that were going through an appeal process.  However, if an appeal was unsuccessful, they would need to be reported immediately.

The applicant addressed the meeting.  He explained that he had informed the Licensing Enforcement Officer about the additional six penalty points by hand delivering a letter in a brown envelope and leaving it at reception in the council offices.  He stated that he had asked his employer to email confirmation to the offence.  The applicant disputed the statement within paragraph 2.3 of the report, which stated that he was aware of the required ‘blue lamp’ driving test as part of his licence conditions in relation to an accumulation of points.  He clarified that he was aware of the licence conditions but not of the ‘blue lamp’ driving test.  Councillor J Clarke referred the applicant to the interview notes at appendix 2 of the report.

In response to a question from Councillor J Clarke, the applicant stated that he was not expecting a response from officers following the delivery of his letter and therefore assumed it had been received.

In response to a number of questions from Councillor K Merrie, the applicant confirmed that he had delivered his letter sometime during October, at approximately 3pm to a female member of staff at reception. 

In response to a request for information on the events that led to the late payment of fees, failure to attend depot tests and interviews that occurred earlier in the year, the applicant felt that the matter had already been dealt with at the previous hearing in January.  After further discussion, the applicant clarified that he was working night shifts at the time and found it difficult to attend appointments in the morning.  He added that following the warnings he had not been late for any appointments.

Councillor J Clarke asked the applicant why he had failed to tell the committee in January about the additional six penalty points.  The applicant explained that he believed Members were already aware, as he had delivered a letter regarding the penalty points.  Councillor J Clarke commented that it was clear members were not aware, as there was no mention of the additional points in the report or by the Licensing Enforcement Officer during the meeting.

Councillor D Everitt asked if the applicant’s employer had discussed his behaviour and punctuality with him.  The applicant stated that his employer had discussed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.