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Agenda item
Application for the Grant of a Private Hire Vehicle Licence Seeking Exemption from Council Policy AHM
Minutes:
The Applicant was in attendance.
The Licensing Officer outlined the
background to the application as follows:
· The application was for the grant of a private hire vehicle licence seeking exemption from Council policy that stated vehicles presented for licensing on the first occasion should be petrol, petrol hybrid or an Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle;
· The vehicle was a diesel non-executive car, and as such did not comply with the Council policy which had been approved since the vehicle was originally licensed in 2016;
· If the Applicant had renewed within 3 months of his previous licence expiring in May 2018, he would have been granted a licence in accordance with Council policy, but he had been unable to renew at that time as his vehicle had been involved in an accident;
· As his Licence had expired a year ago, the application had to be treated as new rather than a renewal;
· Officers were recommending that the application be refused in line with Council policy.
The Applicant outlined his case as follows:
· He had been working as a taxi driver for 25 years;
· He had bought the car in 2016 and his initial application for a licence had been refused due to the car being fitted with tinted glass in the rear and he had replaced the windows at a cost of £1,000 so that he could continue to work;
· The vehicle was involved in an accident in 2017 which meant that it was not suitable for use as a taxi until he could afford the repairs including a replacement door;
· The vehicle had now been repaired and had passed his MOT;
· He was unaware of the changes to Council policy in relation to diesel vehicles.
In response to questioning, the Applicant confirmed:
· He had not been working since the accident as he was supporting his wife who had been ill with cancer and his mother in law who had suffered a stroke;
· He had been using the vehicle for private use and was insured accordingly;
· He was not able to sell the car as it was purchased on finance and he had only paid half of the payments;
· He had a problem with his insurance company going into liquidation and cancelling his insurance which meant that he was not covered at the time of the accident, although a new policy had been organised by his broker;
· He had been advised by friends to pursue the insurance company for taking his payments and cancelling his policy without his knowledge, but he had not taken it further due to family circumstances and he wanted to put the matter behind him;
· He had contacted the police at the time of the accident, but they were not interested as no one had been hurt;
· The accident had involved a van driving into the side of his vehicle whilst trying to cut across lanes at a roundabout;
· He had brought evidence of his new insurance policy.
At this point in the meeting the Licensing Officer and Applicant withdrew from the meeting while the Committee considered the application. Everyone returned to the meeting to hear the decision.
RESOLVED – that taking into account mitigating circumstances relating to the Applicant’s family circumstances and difficulties arising from his accident and his insurance company going into liquidation which prevented him renewing his licence earlier, the application for an exemption to Council Policy in respect of the private hire vehicle licence be granted subject to:
· The Applicant producing the licence fee, a valid certificate of insurance and the vehicle being inspected by Fleet Services.
The applicant was advised that if he delayed renewing the licence for more than three months again it was unlikely that the application would be granted again and was further advised to be careful in the future to ensure that his vehicle was properly insured in the interests of public safety.
Supporting documents:
- Restricted enclosure View the reasons why document 12./1 is restricted