Minutes:
The Licensing Officer:
a) stated that the applicant for a Private Hire Drivers Licence had previously had a private hire drivers licence revoked by the Sub Committee in 2018 and that an appeal by the applicant had been rejected at the Magistrates Court
b) explained that the reason for the hearing was to determine whether the applicant was a fit and proper person to hold a licence and for members to answer the question ‘Would I be comfortable in allowing my son, daughter, spouse or partner, mother or father, grandchild or any persons for whom I care, to get into a private hire vehicle with this person’
c) highlighted that on 8 June 2021 the applicant submitted his documents and paid the application fee to apply for a new Private Hire Drivers Licence
d) reported that the applicant previously held a private hire drivers’ licence from 2008 until 2018 when it was revoked by the Sub Committee after he received a total of 12 penalty points on his driving licence in a six-month period
e) referred to Appendices A, B, and C to the officer’s report in which the report and appendices from the decision made to revoke the applicant’s licence on 22 March 2018 could be viewed, together with the Decision Notice at Appendix D
f) reported that the original decision was upheld in October 2018 by the Magistrates Court
g) added that The District Judge refused to state a case for the High Court in November 2018 as detailed at Appendix E to the officer’s report
h) advised that the applicant had undergone a new DBS check which confirmed that he had no convictions and a DVLA check also revealed a clean licence
The Sub-Committee questioned the applicant about his convictions and received responses from the applicant.
Members expressed particular concern as the applicant had appeared before the Sub Committee on two previous occasions and had been given the opportunity to attend speed awareness courses to address such issues which hadn’t proved effective in the past. It was also noted that the District Judge had refused to state a case for the High Court in November 2018. Members requested assurances from the applicant regarding his honesty due to his past record.
The applicant assured members that his convictions dated back 7 years; since then, he had learnt his lessons, held a clean licence and was a safe driver.
The Decision was made as follows:
1. A special condition be imposed requiring a bi-monthly DVLA check to be carried out at the licence holder’s expense for a duration of two years starting from the date of his new licence.
2. A strongly worded letter be issued which would emphasise the importance of declaring any further convictions or potential court proceedings, including an expectation that if any further offences were to occur then this may result in his Private Hire Drivers licence being revoked.
The reasons for this decision were:
Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Sub-Committee was not totally satisfied that the applicant was a fit and proper person to hold a licence however the committee felt that he could be given conditions to make him a fit and proper person to hold a licence. In reaching their decision, the Sub-Committee considered that:
1. The applicant needed to win the trust of Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Sub-Committee by avoiding any further convictions or court proceedings. They were prepared to give him one final chance to prove he was a fit and proper person to hold a private hire driver’s licence with the imposition of the above conditions on his licence.
The onus now was on the applicant to prove his trustworthiness