Decision details

The Chair referred to the report to consider an application for a Private Hire / Hackney Carriage (Joint) Driver Licence and advised that the Licensing Sub Committee was asked to consider whether the Applicant was a fit and proper person within the meaning of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 to hold a Private Hire/Hackney Carriage (Joint) Driver Licence with this Authority.

The Licensing Officer reported that In Section 7 of the application, the applicant was asked ‘have you ever been convicted of a road traffic offence, or does your DVLA licence have any endorsements’. The applicant had answered ‘no’ in the box relating to this question.   The declaration on the application form was signed by the applicant in section 9. The declaration asked the applicant to read the section carefully and only sign if they understand it and accept each of the statements.

On receipt of the applicant’s DVLA Data Subject Enquiry, it was shown that the applicant had 6 penalty points for an IN10 offence in 2021 (it was confirmed that this was a DVLA endorsement code for using a vehicle uninsured against third party risks). No details of any fine were shown on the document.  The applicant was asked for a written explanation in relation to the points shown on his licence which he provided. The applicant was asked to provide a further written explanation to address the reasons for indicating that he had not been convicted of a motoring offence, nor had endorsements on his driving licence, on his application form thereby making a false declaration. A second explanation was provided.

The Chair questioned the applicant about how long he had been driving a vehicle whilst uninsured.  The applicant said that he did not know he was driving without insurance.  He said he paid his motor insurance by direct debit and he was working away for a few weeks when reminders had come and hadn’t realised the payments had stopped.  He estimated that he had been driving for around 3 months without insurance.  When questioned about why he had not seen the correspondence the applicant said the letters had been misplaced. 

The applicant was questioned about his reasons for applying for a new licence and his understanding of the penalty points he received for his motoring offence in 2021.  The applicant explained he had misunderstood and thought that the points were then no longer on his licence and said he had no reason to lie as he was aware that checks would be made.

In response to questions from the Panel the Licensing Officer confirmed that two character references had been received for the applicant and read out the statements to the Sub Committee.  The Licensing Officer also confirmed that the applicant had not  provided evidence that he could obtain private hire insurance but would be required to do so in any event before the grant of a licence.

The Solicitor questioned the applicant on whether he had received points in the past and how long he had held a licence.  The applicant explained that he had a historic conviction for drink driving around 30 years ago, speeding, and a bald tyre on his vehicle.  The applicant said he could not remember the details of the fine as it was many years ago.  The Solicitor asked about the circumstances of the offence in question from 2021. The applicant explained that his vehicle was towed away and he chose not to recover it and has not held insurance since.  He could not recall the amount of the fixed penalty. 

The applicant was asked if he had anything else to add.  He apologised for what had happened.    When the Chair was satisfied that all relevant questions had been raised, she asked the applicant and Licensing Officer to leave the meeting to enable the Sub-Committee to reach a decision.

4.1       Determination of the Application

The Licensing Officer and the applicant were invited to return so that the meeting could be reconvened.

The Chair advised that the members of the Sub-Committee had considered the report, the appended documentation, and the representations made by the applicant and had regard to the Council’s guidance on convictions and the statuary guidance.  The Sub-Committee noted that the applicant had failed to disclose on his application a fixed penalty and endorsement of 6 points which related to driving without insurance.  Regard was given to the applicant’s explanation but on balance the Sub-Committee was not satisfied that this adequately explained his failure to disclose the penalty.         

The Sub-Committee had determined that on the balance of probability the applicant was not a fit and proper person to hold a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver’s Licence within the meaning of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 and that the application should therefore be refused.

4.2       Decision

The Chair read out the decision of the Sub-Committee (as above) and before closing the meeting advised the applicant that he had the right of appeal against the decision and that the decision would be issued to him in writing.

RESOLVED:

That the application be refused as the Sub-Committee was not satisfied the applicant is a fit and proper person to hold a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver’s Licence within the meaning of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.