Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Clwyd Committee Room, County Hall, Mold CH7 6NA

Contact: Nicola Gittins 01352 702345  Email: nicola.gittins@flintshire.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Declarations of Interest (Including Whipping Declarations)

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

Decision:

None were received.

 

Minutes:

None were received.

 

2.

Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 - To consider the exclusion of the press and public

Decision:

The Chairman advised that, having considered the representations made, the panel agreed to grant the licence for a probationary period of 12 months.  The panel needed to ensure there was sufficient business acumen and confirmed they would be monitored.  He was pleased to hear the driver technology was already installed in the cars.  He reiterated if there was a repeat offence then there would be a refusal.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the applicant was a fit and proper person to hold a Private Hire/Hackney Carriage Driver’s Licence under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 with the attached conditions and that the Licence be granted

 

Minutes:

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item as this was considered to contain exempt information by virtue of paragraphs 12 and 13 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

 

 

3.

Application to Transfer a Private Hire Operator Licence

For Members to consider an application to transfer a Private Hire Operator licence and determine whether the applicants are fit and proper to hold the licence.

Decision:

The Chairman welcomed the Applicants and introduced the panel members.  He explained the procedure for the hearing, including how the application would be determined.

 

Minutes:

The Licensing Team Leader presented the report to consider an application to transfer the Private Hire Operator Licence. The application was shown at Appendix A.  The current holders of the licence had provided their written consent to the transfer and was shown at Appendix B and Appendix C.

 

            The Solicitor commenced his questions to the Applicants and asked how long they had held licences.

 

            The applicants provided details of their licence history, however there was some confusion regarding the dates that a previous licence had been granted to Applicant (b) and the Licensing Team Leader was asked to obtain clarification of this.  The meeting was adjourned at 2.22 pm

 

The meeting reconvened at 2.29 pm and the Licensing Team Leader provided clarification of the information held on the licensing system on Applicant (b). 

 

            The Solicitor then asked the Applicants why the Panel should support this application.

            In response they admitted mistakes had been made in the past but they had learned from them and were confident with the support of the existing licence holder they would not make the same mistakes again.

 

            The Applicants were requested to read out their emails on page 15 and 17 which they did.

 

            In response to a number of questions raised by the Solicitor the Applicants provided clarification on the incident which led to the 17 points being received on the Operator Licence.

           

            The Solicitor then referring to the driving without insurance offences and asked how this had happened.

            In response the Applicants referred to a burglary of the office and provided background information of the circumstances which led to the prosecution.  He added he was allowed to keep his licence on the grounds of exceptional hardship but banned from driving for 8 days.

 

            The Solicitor then asked for clarification on their roles in the previous taxi company.  It was confirmed they were just drivers.

 

            The Solicitor then referred to the application and to page 4 and asked why the licence was refused but the appeal at the Magistrates Court was dismissed.        The Licensing Team Leader responded saying she was not sure what the policy was at that time which was different to the policy in place now. She clarified the timeline for the licence. 

 

            The Solicitor referred to page 8, part 6 applicant’s details “has any person in 1 above ever been refused a private hire or hackney carriage licence or had any such licence suspended / revoked” and asked why he had crossed out ‘yes and no’ and wrote ‘no’ underneath.


            In response Applicant (a) said his licence had never been revoked and Applicant (b) said he had been to court and it had been granted

 

The Solicitor asked if there was an intention to mislead to which they responded no there was not.

 

            The Solicitor referred to the same page (b) convictions or cautions – and asked why this has been left blank.  In response they said they had mis-read the form thinking it was referred to existing convictions.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.