Agenda item

A report from the Executive Director (Operations) is attached.

Licence Holder 35/2021

The Executive Director (Operations) submitted a report relating to Licence Holder 35/2021 who was in attendance at the meeting.

The Chair made introductions and the Council Solicitor outlined the procedure to be followed and clarified that all those present had read the report. The report, which was accepted by the Licence Holder and presented by the Licensing Manager, set out the reasons for the Licence Holder being before the Committee.

The Licensing Manager reported that this Licence Holder was due to appear before the Committee at the last meeting, however due to him contracting Covid, members agreed to defer consideration to tonight’s meeting.

The report stated that the Licence Holder had held a private hire driver’s licence continually since the 10^th July 2007. His most recent licence was issued on the 21^st July 2021 and is due to expire on the 20^th July 2024.

Since 2007, the Licensing Service had cause to contact this driver about a number of issues which were detailed in the report attached to the agenda pack which included 7 instances of missing door stickers, which is a condition of the Private hire vehicle licence issued to that vehicle. The Licence Holder had been sent warning letters, copies of which were attached to the report. These advised the Licence Holder of the requirement to have door stickers and also asked the Licence Holder to present his vehicle for inspection with the correct stickers, but he failed to do so on each occasion.

On the 13^th January 2022, the Licence Holders vehicle was seen on the Interchange car park in Bury Town Centre by the Licensing Enforcement Officer. It was noted that the vehicle was missing door stickers. When contacted regarding the mater, the Licence Holder stated that he needs to get his vehicle regularly polished to remove scratches due to the neighbourhood cats.

The Licence Holder stated that he loves his cars and regularly has it polished and therefore all the signage needs to be removed from his vehicle to ensure a good finish. He stated that he has regularly purchased door stickers before his vehicle is presented for a test and he has now got full signage on the vehicle. He apologised to the Committee as he didn’t want to be in this position and explained he removes the stickers when polishing his car.

The Licensing Manager questioned the Licence Holder as to whether he had read the conditions of his licence and understood the reasons why stickers are placed on licensed vehicles. In response, the Licence Holder stated that he had probably read them but could not remember and stickers were to show which authority the taxi belonged to. The Licensing Unit Manager then pointed to that they are required in order that members of the public know the vehicle is licenced and who by.

A Member sought clarity as to whether the stickers could be reused after being removed from a vehicle and the Licensing Unit Manager advised they could not and new ones would have to be purchased. The Chair questioned the Licence Holder on understanding the importance of public safety in Bury by identifying a vehicle as a taxi via the display of stickers. The Licence Holder informed the meeting that he did but on further questioning as to why they had not been immediately replaced as required by the licence conditions on 7 occasions, the Licence Holder stated that the stickers were not on during transit from the car body shop to his home address. He also stated that he could not remember reading the letters requesting an inspection of his vehicle.

Delegated decision:

The Committee carefully considered the report, and oral representations by the Licence Holder.

Taking into account the Council’s Conviction Policy and Guidelines and in accordance with the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, the Committee resolved to suspend the Licence Holder for a period of 6 months.

The reasons for the Committee’s decision were as follows:

1.    The breaches were of a serious nature, particular as the requirement for stickers on vehicles was intended to ensure members of the public were protected and safe and could identify a properly licenced vehicle.

2.    The Licence Holder had repeated breaches of the licensing conditions.

3.    The Licence Holder had failed to read the licensing conditions and warning letters requesting inspection of the vehicle.

4.    The Licence Holder had disregarded the requests to present his vehicles for inspection on every occasion he was requested to do so.

5.    The Licence Holder had demonstrated a complete disregard for the Licencing Authority, its licensing conditions and the importance of public safety.

Licence Holder 36/2021

The Executive Director (Operations) submitted a report relating to Licence Holder 36/2021 who was not in attendance at the meeting.

The Licensing Unit Manager confirmed the Applicant could not attend due to a family bereavement and was currently out of the country.

Delegated decision:

The Committee deferred the application until the next Licensing and Safety Committee.

Licence Holder 37/2021

The Executive Director (Operations) submitted a report relating to Licence Holder 37/2021 who was in attendance at the meeting. The Chair made introductions and the Council Solicitor outlined the procedure to be followed and clarified that all those present had read the report. The report, which was accepted by the Licence Holder and presented by the Licensing Manager, set out the reasons for the Licence Holder being before the Committee.

The report stated that the Licence Holder had held a private hire driver’s licence continually since the 5^th March 2010 until its expiry on the 4 March 2022. It had subsequently been extended without prejudice until the date of this committee hearing. Upon submitting an application to renew his private hire drivers’ licence on the 13 February 2022, the Licence Holder was asked “Do you have any convictions, fines or formal cautions?” The selected ‘no’ but then selected ‘yes’ when asked “Have you been issued with any fixed Penalty notices and stated ‘Exceeding statutory speed limit on a public road’. A subsequent check of this applicants DVLA driving licence indicated a convictions for speeding on 12 August 2019 for which he was fined £100 and received 3 penalty points.

This Licence Holder was subsequently contacted by a Licensing Officer, and he explained the background to the offence which was detailed in appendix 1 of the report attached to the agenda pack.

The Licence Holder apologised to the Committee and explained that it was his fault he had not been contacted by the Licensing Service and had been in the taxi trade for a number of years without any recorded incidents. The offence occurred when he was on holiday in Wales with his family and not carrying customers as a taxi and he stated that he had not realised he needed to report the offence. He asked the Committee to accept it was a genuine mistake and was entirely his fault.

Delegated decision:

The Committee carefully considered the report, and oral representations by the Licence Holder. The Committee noted the record of the Licence Holder and how long he had held a licence without having any complaints or convictions. They further noted his remorse, the apology and that he had accepted the error was due to a mistake, which the Licence Holder had learned a lesson from.

Taking into account the Council’s Conviction Policy and Guidelines and in accordance with the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, the Committee resolved to take no action against the Licence Holder.