Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received were received from Cllr Davies, substitute Cllr Langley.

None were received.

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item*Democratic Services Officer check time limit for your particular Committee*

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Nothing was received.

Recommended – that having regard to the quasi-judicial nature of the business

on the Agenda, those Committee Procedure Rules relating to the moving of

motions and the rules of debate (CMR10 and 11) be suspended for the duration

of the meeting.

Resolved – that having regard to the quasi-judicial nature of the business on the Agenda, those Committee Procedure Rules relating to the moving of motions and the rules of debate (CMR10 and 11) be suspended for the duration of the meeting).

Recommended – that under Section 11A(4) of the Local GovernmentAct 1972

the public beexcluded from themeeting for thefollowing items of business on theground that involve the likely disclosure of exemptinformation as defined in Part 1of Schedule 12A to theAct, as amended.

Resolved – that under Section 11A(4) of the Local GovernmentAct 1972,the press and public beexcluded for the following item of business on the ground that it involves thelikely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part1 of Schedule 12Ato the Act,as amended.

To seek consideration of the ability of a licensed Hackney Carriage Driver (HCD) to be considered a fit and proper person to hold a licence following on from a recent alleged complaint from a member of the public.

KH was in attendance, accompanied by two legal representatives.

Two witnesses from V Cars were also in attendance.

The complainant/witness was in attendance via a video link.

The Chair explained the procedure that would be followed and everyone introduced themselves.

The NET Officer introduced the report and summarised it for everyone.

The complainant/witness confirmed her written statement and described the incident in detail.  In summary she stated that:

·         She had worked a double shift and was sober when the taxi picked her up

·         Her boss had an account with V Cars and often ordered taxis for staff when they finished during the early hours to ensure that they were transported home safely

·         A text was received saying the taxi was outside

·         The driver asked her to sit in the front seat which she thought unusual

·         She therefore sat in the front and to start with the driver was very chatty and friendly.  The first few minutes of the journey seemed normal

·         Then he asked her about work and she replied she was very tired

·         He started to talk about foot massages saying her boyfriend should give her a foot massage

·         He then talked about his girlfriend or ex-girlfriend and how a foot massage would lead to sex.  She started to feel uncomfortable at this point

·         As they approached her house he said how lucky her boyfriend was and how good looking she was.  He said that if he was her boyfriend he would give her a foot massage

·         As she got out of the taxi he said that if he was her boyfriend he would fuck her twice every night

·         She was so shocked at this and was initially hesitant to go inside her house because the driver would know where she lived and she didn’t want him to know exactly which house she lived in – but then realised he had her address anyway

·         Her boyfriend let her into the house and she noticed the driver was lingering around

·         She followed this up with a complaint to V Cars

·         She had decided to complain to protect others from this sort of incident

·         When she told her boyfriend she realised as she was saying it out loud how horrendous it was and inappropriate.  It was almost as if the driver was testing the waters to see what he could get away with

·         She was sober but as it was late at night he could potentially be picking up drunken women who are more vulnerable than her

She answered questions from Members of the Committee highlighting the following:

·                     The journey had taken about 10 minutes

·                     She had not initially reported the incident as she had not told her boyfriend about it when arrived home; the next day she had feelings of guilt, discussed the incident with her boyfriend and decided to report it as she realised she was not to blame at all.  She wanted to ensure this didn’t happen to anyone else

She then answered questions from KH’s solicitor highlighting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.