The Clerk asked for a nomination for Chair.

RESOLVED that Councillor Norman be appointed as Chair of this Sub-Committee C.

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no matters, which in the opinion of the Chair, to be considered as a matter of urgency.

Declarations of Interests. (Please telephone the Corporate and Community Services team to prepare a form for your signature before the meeting. Interests must be re-declared when the item is called. A declaration of interest under the Code of Conduct will be a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, an Other Registrable Interest or a Non-Registrable Interest.  If the item directly relates to your interest you must declare the interest and leave the room for the item, save in the case of Other Registrable Interests or Non-Registrable Interests where you may first speak on the item as a member of the public if provision has been made for the public to speak.  If the matter does not directly relate to your interest but still affects it then you must consider whether you are affected to a greater extent than most people and whether a reasonable person would consider your judgement to be clouded, if you are then you must leave the room for the item (although you may speak as a member of the public if provision has been made for the public to speak) or, if you are not, then you can declare the interest but still take part).

There were no declarations of interest announced.

RECOMMENDED:

(a)      That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following items as they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined by Paragraph 2 of Part 1 of the Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended from time to time), namely information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual. 

(b)      That all documents and reports relating to the items be confirmed as “Not for Publication”.

RESOLVED that:

(a)  Under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the for the following item as it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 2 of Part 1 of the Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended from time to time), namely information which was likely to reveal the identity of an individual.

(b)  All documents and reports relating to the item be confirmed as “Not for Publication”.

Report by Licensing Officer (attached)

Also present:  The Applicant and the Applicant’s Representative.

The Chair introduced himself, the other Sub-Committee members and the officers present.

The Chair asked the Legal Advisor to explain the order of the hearing proceedings.

The Licensing Officer presented his report.  The Licensing Officer highlighted the following:

·         Section 13.3 of the North Devon District Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy (December 2023) required a licensed
hackney carriage and private hire driver to notify the Licensing Authority within 48 hours of any motoring offence.

·         On 9 January 2024 the driver (reference PFDD0001 (24) reported to the Council that he had been convicted of a driving offence in October 2023 and had incurred three penalty points.  He advised that this offence would take the total points on his DVLA driving licence to nine penalty points.  Notification of this could be seen at Appendix A of the report.

·         Whilst the licence holder did inform the Licensing Authority of the October 2023 driving endorsement, no record could be found that the driver ever informed the Licensing Team of the two previous speeding offences for May 2023.

·         On 18 January 2024, a Licensing Officer contacted the driver to seek clarity on the position surrounding the October 2023 speeding offence.  The driver advised it was a speeding offence on the North Devon Link Road.  The driver advised that he was not offered a National Speed Awareness Course (NSAC) in relation to any of the three current offences as he had undergone a NSAC course in August 2021.  Once a driver had attended, a course there was no option for re-attendance for a further three years.

·         As part of the Licensing Team’s procedures, a DVLA check was made every year on a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver’s Driving licence.  A check was made on 11 July 2023 but this did not disclose the two SP30 offences, which were accrued on the 25 and 26 May 2023 as can be seen at Appendix B of the report.

·         In relation to the latest speeding offence, a check was made on 22 January 2024 that identified three driving endorsements totalling nine penalty points, as can be seen at Appendix C of the report.

·         The licensee currently held a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver’s licence for the period 16 March 2021 to 15 March 2024.

·         The driver was being referred to the Licensing and Community Safety Sub-Committee C for the following reasons:

Ø  The driver had acquired nine penalty points on their DVLA driving licence;

Ø  The driver had not previously advised the Council of the NSAC attended in August 2021;

Ø  Points had accrued in short succession following the attendance of the NSAC, which showed a propensity to speed;

Ø  The driver failed to inform the Council of the two speeding offences on the 25 and 26 May 2023, contrary to the Council’s Policy; and

Ø  The driver had been issued a final warning for a racially aggravated complaint, a copy of which could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.