Councillor Biederman was nominated Chair for this Sub-Committee E.

RESOVLED that Councillor Biederman be appointed Chair.

There were no apologies of absence received.

The Chair introduced Councillor Lethaby as an observer and sought the applicants consent for him to stay for the hearing.

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).

No declarations of interest were 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; and

(b)  That all documents and reports relating to the items be confirmed as “Not for Publication”.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That, under Section 100(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following items 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(b)  That all documents and reports relating to the items be confirmed as “Not for Publication”.

Report by Licensing Officer (attached).

Also present: The Driver and Councillor Lethaby, Observing.

The Chair introduced himself and invited those present to introduce themselves.

The Driver confirmed he was happy for Councillor Lethaby to remain in the room and observe.

The Licensing Officer confirmed all requirements had been met in relation to this application.

The Legal Officer outlined the hearing process, explaining that the Licensing Officer would begin by presenting his report; the Sub-committee could then ask questions.  The Driver would then be able to present his case and the Sub-Committee would ask questions. It there was a witness the Driver could call for them to present a case.  Once all questions had been asked the Licensing Officer would sum up followed by the Driver.  All public and press would then be asked to leave so that the Sub-committee could take legal advice to formulate its decision.  Everyone would be readmitted to the meeting whereby the clerk would read the proposed decision and this would be voted on.  A copy of the decision notice would be given to the Driver and the Chair would call the meeting to a close.

The Driver confirmed he understood the process.

The Licensing Officer handed the Driver a copy of the Institute of Licensing’s Suitability Guidance (October 2024).

The Licensing Officer highlighted the following:

·         The Driver was granted a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire licence in January 2020 which was subsequently renewed in January 2023.

·         The next renewal was due in January 2026.

·         A Private Hire Operators licence was held by the Driver and this was first granted February 2020 and expired February 2026.

·         He also held a Private Hire Vehicle licence first granted in July 2021 and was due for renewal in July 2025.

·         During his licence renewal in January 2023 the Driver disclosed he had received 3 penalty points on his driver’s licence for exceeding the statutory speed limit on a public road this was dated December 2022.

·         The yearly check carried out by the Council on the DVLA site found two further speeding offences each accruing three points bringing the total number of points on the licence to 9 over three separate incidences.

·         Section 13.3 in Appendix O of the North Devon Council Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy states that drivers must notify the Licensing Team in writing, within a 48 hour period of any arrest and release, charge or conviction, receipt of a driving disqualification for any period of time, receipt of any fixed penalty, or anti-social behaviour order imposed on him/her whilst the licence was in force.

·         On 21 October 2024 the Driver was interviewed in accordance with the conditions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) in relation to the driving licence endorsements and the failure to notify the Licensing team at North Devon Council.

·         A newsletter sent out to all drivers on 8 February 2024 reminded Drivers of the requirement to notify the Council within 48 hours, a copy of this newsletter could be seen at Appendix A  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Report by Licensing Officer (attached).

Also present: the Driver, his Witness and Councillor Lethaby, Observer.

The Chair explained Councillor Lethaby’ s presence and sought confirmation the Driver was happy for him to remain in the room.  The Driver confirmed he was happy for Councillor Lethaby to remain.

The Chair introduced himself and invited those present to introduce themselves.  He confirmed he had been appointed the Chair for this hearing and confirmed that items 2 to 6 on the agenda had been dealt with.

The Chair asked the Licensing Officer to confirm if all requirements had been met for the application.  The Licensing Officer confirmed they had.

The Chair then invited the Legal Officer to explain the hearing process. 

The Legal Officer explained that the Licensing Officer would begin by presenting his report followed by questions from the Sub-Committee.  The Chair would then request the Driver to present his case followed by questions from the Sub-Committee, the Chair would then ask the Driver’s witness to present his case followed by questions from the Sub-Committee.  The Licensing Officer would then sum up followed by the Driver.  The Sub-Committee would then retire to seek legal advice to formulate its decision.  Once a proposed decision had been reached, the meeting would reconvene and the clerk would read out the proposed decision whereby Members of the Sub-Committee would vote.  A printed copy of the decision notice would be given to the Driver and the meeting would then conclude.

The Driver confirmed he understood the process.

The Licensing Officer highlighted the following:

·         The Driver currently held a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire drivers licence which had first been granted in January 2019.

·         This had been renewed for a further three years in January 2022 with the next renewal due in January 2025.

·         During the grant of his licence the Driver had declared receiving three penalty points on his licence in February 2016.

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

·         A newsletter was sent out to licenced drivers in February 2024 reminding them of the requirement to disclose offences within 48 hours, this could be seen at Appendix B of the agenda report.

·         During a DVLA licence check carried out by the Licensing Authority in October 2024 it was discovered that his licence had nine penalty points over three separate offences of speeding on a public road in a 30 mph zone.

·         The Driver attended an interview at Brynsworthy Environment Centre in accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) in relation to the driving licence endorsements and the failure to notify the Council of these endorsements.

·         The Driver had undertaken a speed awareness course.

The Chair expressed his concern over the notification or lack of it to drivers of the need for them to notify the Council of offences and asked if this process could be reviewed by officers.

The Driver presented his case.  He was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.