Agenda item

To receive the report, which asks the Committee to consider if an individual is still a fit and proper person to continue to hold Licenses with Selby District Council.

The Licensing Manager presented the report, which asked the Committee to consider if the individual was a fit and proper person to hold a Private Operators Licence, a Private Hire Drivers Licence, a Hackney Carriage Drivers Licence and two Hackney Carriage Proprietor (vehicle) Licences in accordance with the Council’s Taxi Licensing Policy, having regard to the circumstances of the complaint and the individual’s actions.

The Licensing Manager explained that the report was brought before the Committee following information received by the Licensing Team in October 2020, which showed a photograph of the driver’s vehicle parked on a pavement in Selby town. An investigation by the Enforcement team had commenced following the reporting of the incident, at which time the driver had attended a meeting to discuss the matter, however, at that meeting the driver refused to converse with officers of the Council, therefore the issue remained unresolved.

Additionally, the driver failed to notify the Licensing Authority of a speeding offence within three days as required by the Taxi Licensing Policy, the fixed penalty notice had been issued in March 2021, and the Licensing team did not receive notification from the driver until June 2021.

Members heard that an offence of this nature would normally be dealt with by the Licensing Manager, whereby a verbal warning would be given to the driver, however, as the Enforcement team were still dealing with the prior issue with the driver, the speeding offence was passed to them to resolve as a whole.  To date, the driver had not responded to the Enforcement officers email requesting an explanation for the late notification of the speeding offence.

The driver and the driver’s representative were able to respond to questions asked by the Committee concerning the report.

The driver, the driver’s representative, and the Licensing Manager left the meeting at this point and did not return.

The Committee considered that the evidence presented demonstrated that the applicant was a ‘fit and proper person’ to be a licensed Private Hire and Hackney Carriage operator and driver. However, Members agreed that two strongly worded written warnings should be sent to the driver to emphasise the concerns of the Committee in relation to the failure to report the speeding offence within three days as required by the Taxi Licensing Policy, and the need for the driver to co-operate with the Licensing Authority.

The Solicitor confirmed that the two written warnings would be kept on the driver’s file permanently.

RESOLVED:

i.               That the Driver remained a ‘fit and proper’ person to hold a Private Operators Licence, a Private Hire Drivers Licence, a Hackney Carriage Drivers Licence and two Hackney Carriage Proprietor (vehicle) Licences.

ii.             That two strongly worded written warnings be issued to the driver to emphasise the concerns of the Committee.

Reason for decision:

The Committee was satisfied that the applicant was a ‘fit and proper’ person in accordance with the Council’s Licensing Policy but wished to emphasise to the driver the seriousness of the matters.