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Agenda item
REPORT OF AN APPLICATION FOR THE GRANT OF A PRIVATE HIRE DRIVER LICENCE - MA
- Meeting of Public Safety and Protection Sub-Committee A, Tuesday, 26th May, 2020 9.00 am (Item 63.)
- View the reasons why item 63. is restricted
Minutes:
The Driver (MA) was present.
The Licensing Officer introduced the report and drew attention to the following:
· That MA failed to declare relevant offences on his application.
· MA applied for a Private Hire Licence on 11 Feb 2020. MA has previously held a licence from 3 April 2018 to June 2019. A previous application was refused by members, the Committee report is attached in Appendix A.
· On 7 April 2004 MA appeared at PSP as he was driving without a licence and his application was refused. MA lodged an appeal, but this was dismissed. MA was disqualified for 12 months, see appendix B and C.
· In 2009 officers wrote to MA about not displaying plates. MA was interviewed and warned.
· MA has many historic endorsements relating to speeding, refusal to supply identifying documents, driving while uninsured, using a phone while driving and having faulty lights. Since January 2018, MA has received 15 points on his licence. A driver is usually disqualified from driving if they receive 12 or more penalty points within three years. SA has 15 points on his licence. SA argued exception hardship and was not disqualified from driving (but the 15 points remain)
· The policy states that where disqualification is considered by the court, even if the court does not disqualify the driver due to exceptional hardship, the Council is likely to refuse a hackney carriage or private hire driver's licence (where there are 12 or more points) and an applicant will normally be expected to show a period of 12 months free from conviction from the date the court made its finding of exceptional circumstances justifying the non- disqualification
· MA has not completed the required tests, including: medical, gold standard, knowledge and enhanced DBS.
The Licensing Officer recommended that the Committee refuse the application.
MA put his case highlighting the following:
· MA has received no convictions since January 2017, which was a minor speeding offence, meaning that he has been clean for 2 ½ years.
· He has been off the road since 12 June 2019, which presents him significant hardship.
· MA stated that 6 points have recently been removed from this licence, that his current licence has 9 points and in November another 6 will be removed.
· MA stated that he was not the driver of the vehicle when certain offences were committed. The other driver is declared as an interested party on the application form, who was responsible for the vehicle at the time of the offences.
· MA has been driving for over 20 years, has received no customer complaints and does not believe he presents a danger to the public. After 2018, MA completed a driving awareness course.
Following questions from the Committee, the following information was confirmed:
· That declarations on licence applications cover offences currently being investigated, not just those that have resulted in conviction.
· That MA has responsibility for the vehicle as it is in his name. The renewal for licence 601 was submitted under MA’s name with another interested party. Although MA stated that the other party renewed plates and he was the driver, MA is still liable as the vehicle owner.
· The Committee was concerned about the failure to give information as to identity of the driver offences. MA stated that he was in temporary accommodation so did not receive notifications of offences. As he did not submit identification papers to the DVLA and court in time, this was taken as a refusal to supply identification. MA confirmed that he has never refused to give identification to a police officer.
· MA stated that failing to give information as to the identity of the driver was due to the inaction of his brother, who is the other identified driver. MA asked his brother to fill in the relevant forms, but he did not do so.
· MA was informed that there is a vehicle registered in his name, with his brother insured to drive it. MA stated that this was done without his knowledge or consent.
The Members then withdrew to deliberate
RESOLVED – (unanimous decision) The
Committee does not make a determination on this case and delegates
it to officers for determination not before the 12 June 2020.
The Committee considered the previous Committee’s decision in 2019, namely that under the Council’s policy these circumstances would usually
result in a period of 12months off the road
from the date of conviction but given that MA did not disclose
thisinformation to the Council, which is a
concern of itself, he should not be entitled to
benefitfrom the policy not biting in these
circumstances.
Therefore, as the current application was heard within 12 months of
the previous decision, the Committee decided not to determine the
application on this date as it was contrary to the policy to the
Council’s policy on the relevance of criminal behaviour. The
Committee delegated the application to officers to consider not
before 12 June 2020 and note that MA has
outstanding tests to undertake for his application.
This includes the knowledge test as it is a
new application and not a renewal application.
MA raised the possibility of being exempt from the knowledge test,
which did not form part of his application. The Committee informed
MA that if he seeks exemption from the knowledge test, he will have
to make an application regarding this.