Minutes for Regulatory and Appeals Committee meeting, Nov 5 2008, 10.00AM official page

The Chair welcomed Jill Farringdon, Senior Licensing Officer, to the meeting.

The Chair referred to one urgent item which he had agreed to ad to the agenda on the grounds of urgency.  The item was “Private Hire & Hackney carriage Inspections – Reaffirmation of Standards and Requirements”.   The reason for urgency was to enable the standards and requirements in relation to the inspection of Private Hire and Hackney Carriage vehicles to be put into place as soon as possible.

Councillor Lloyd declared an interest in Agenda Item 15, as he knew the applicant applying for the licence.

 “That the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of agenda item 12 on the grounds that it is likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as described in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, as amended”.

Resolved – That the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of agenda items 6 to 15 on the grounds that they are likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as described in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.

The Service Director, Legal and Democratic Services submitted a report which sought the reaffirmation of the certain standards and requirements in relation to the inspection of Private Hire and Hackney Carriage vehicles, pending the development of an Inspection Standards for such vehicles.

Under Section 50 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 enables Licensing Authorities to inspect and test vehicles used as Private Hire or Hackney Carriages up to three times in a twelve month period.  The Council currently requires that all vehicles are tested at least annually, with vehicles of five years of age or more tested every six months.  As these vehicles undertook considerably more mileage that the average private vehicles, they were subject to a more comprehensive test that the MoT testing regime, and included specific matters outside the MoT test and matters directly linked to the Authority’s licensing requirements. 

It had been agreed with Transport Operations to develop a comprehensive criteria based on the Best Practice Guide produced by the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Inspection Technical Officer Group.  It was noted that this guide was currently under review and the Licensing Officer confirmed a representative of the Authority was now involved in the review process.  It was anticipated that the revised document would be completed by 1 April 2009.   In the interim it was proposed hat the Authority would review all the current bulletins in reissued to the trade and review them for relevance in relation

Resolved – 1) That the standards and requirements in relation to the inspection of Private hire and Hackney Carriage Vehicles be reaffirmed.

2) That the development of an Inspection Standards for Private hire and Hackney Carriage Vehicles be noted.

Consideration was given to an application to vary the conditions of a Sex Establishment at the Private Shop, Doncaster Road, Wakefield.  A representative on behalf of the Applicant attended the meeting to give reasons why the application should be granted.  A written representation from one of the Local Ward Members against the application had been received.  The applicant had applied for the variation to allow the Private Shop to open between the hours of 10:00 and 16:00 on the two Sundays preceding Christmas each year.

Resolved - That the application to vary the condition for the Private Shop, 71 Doncaster Road, Wakefield be varied to allow the shop to open between the hours of 10:00 and 16:00 on the two Sundays preceding Christmas each year.

Reason - Having regard to the reasons outlined by the applicant and the location of the premises.      

Consideration was given to the continued validity of a Private Hire Driver’s Licence, reference I/260192/Z, following the Service Director, Legal and Democratic Services’ letter, dated 20 October 2008, to the Licence Holder stating that she had concerns regarding the future validity of his Licence.  The Licence Holder and his representative were present at the meeting to explain why the Licence should be allowed to continue.

Resolved - That Private Hire Driver’s Licence, reference I/260192/Z, be suspended for a period of 28 days with immediate effect.

Reason – Having regard to the Applicants convictions and his failure to notify the Licensing Office of his convictions within the required 7 days.

Consideration was given to the continued validity of a Private Hire Driver’s Licence, reference K/869002/SI, following the Service Director, Legal and Democratic Services’ letter, dated 20 October 2008, to the Licence Holder stating that she had concerns regarding the future validity of his Licence.  The Licence Holder was present at the meeting to explain why the Licence should be allowed to continue.

Resolved - That Private Hire Driver’s Licence, reference K/869002/SI, be suspended for a period of 28 days with immediate effect.

Reason – Having regard to the Applicants convictions and his failure to notify the Licensing Office of his convictions within the required 7 days.

Consideration was given to an application for a Private Hire Driver’s Licence, reference S/570110/MS, following the Service Director, Legal and Democratic Services’ letter, dated 21 October 2008, to the Applicant stating that she had concerns regarding the application.  The Applicant and his representative were present at the meeting to explain why the application should be granted.

Resolved - That Private Hire Driver’s Licence, reference I/260192/Z, be refused.

Reason – Having regard to the Applicants record of convictions and the information contained on his enhanced Criminal Records Bureau disclosure.  

The Committee gave consideration to an application for a Private Hire Driver’s Licence, reference K/276081/AM, following the Service Director, Legal and Democratic Services’ letter, dated 20 October 2008, to the Applicant stating that she had concerns regarding the application.  The Applicant and his representative were present at the meeting to explain why the application should be granted.

Resolved - That Private Hire Driver’s Licence, reference K/276081/AM, be adjourned to a future meeting.  

Reason – To enable the Applicant to resolve any disparities contained within the information submitted to the Committee.  

The Committee gave consideration to the future validity of Hackney Carriage Driver’s Licences, reference M/575061/S and A/071172/M, following the Service Director, Legal and Democratic Services’ letters, dated 20 October 2008, to the Licence Holders stating that she had concerns regarding the future validity of their Licences.  The Licence Holders and their representatives were present at the meeting to explain why the Licences should be allowed to continue.  As the two matters related to the same matter, it had been agreed to consider the continued validity of the licences at the same time.

Resolved - That consideration of Hackney Carriage Driver’s Licences, reference M/575061/S and A/071172/M, be adjourned until 3 December 2008.

Reason – To enable the Licence holders and their representative the opportunity to prepare fully in relation to the matter before the Committee.

The Committee gave consideration to an application for Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Driver’s Licences, reference A/671003/M, following the Service Director, Legal and Democratic Services’ letter, dated 23 October 2008, to the Applicant stating that she had concerns regarding the applications.  The Applicant and his representative were present at the meeting to explain why the applications should be granted.

Resolved - That Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Driver’s Licences, reference A/671003/M, be granted in full for a period of 12 months.

Reason – Having regard to the Applicants explanation of his previous conviction.

The Chair (Councillor Lloyd) declared a personal which is prejudicial interest in the following item (minute 102 refers) and withdrew from the meeting.  The Deputy Chair (Councillor Hunt) assumed the Chair. 

The Committee gave consideration to an application for a Private Hire Driver’s Licence, reference H/186021/WM, following the Service Director, Legal and Democratic Services’ letter, dated 23 October 2008, to the Applicant stating that she had concerns regarding the application.  The Applicant and his representative were present at the meeting to explain why the application should be granted.

Resolved - That Private Hire Driver’s Licence, reference H/186021/WM, be granted for a period of six months, and that a warning letter be sent to the applicant regarding his future conduct.

Reason – Having regard to the Applicants explanation of his previous conviction.

The Committee considered an application for a Private Hire Driver’s Licence, reference T/273030/D, following the Service Director, Legal and Democratic Services’ letter, dated 20 October 2008, to the Applicant stating that she had concerns regarding the application.  The Applicant was present at the meeting to explain why the application should be granted.

Resolved - That Private Hire Driver’s Licence, reference T/273030/D, be refused.

Reason - Having regard to the Applicant’s previous conviction history, the Committee could not be satisfied that the Applicant was a fit and proper person to hold a Private Hire Driver’s Licence.