The report of the Head of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is enclosed.

The Hearing Panel considered the report from the Head of Planning, Building Control and Licensing regarding the above application. The Applicant attended the hearing and the oral representations of the parties who attended were also considered, as well as the relevant guidance. The Applicant was assisted in the hearing by an interpreter that was provided by the Council. The matter was considered in line with the established procedure for taxi licensing hearings.

In reaching its decision the Panel took into consideration their Statement of Policy and Guidelines and Statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards.

The Licensing Unit Officer advised the Panel that LA was appearing before Sub-Committee for consideration of the review of a private hire driver licence. LA had convictions for CD20 - Driving without reasonable consideration for other road users and SP50 - Exceeding speed limit on a motorway, attracting 6 penalty points, a major traffic offence plus TS10 - Failing to comply with traffic light signals. LA’s current licence was due to expire on 21 June and LA had submitted their renewal on 10 May. LA had not declared convictions on this renewal application.

LA addressed the Hearing Panel and stated that they were sorry for the situation they were in and having not disclosed the matter on their application. LA stated that they had attempted to send the image to the Licensing Unit and had incurred 6 points for the incidents named and had attended court on the same day as applying for the licence renewal. LA had copies of an apology email distributed to all attendees at the hearing which stated that the email sent to notify the Licensing Unit of the offence/s did not send and that this was an honest mistake.

During questioning it emerged that LA had been stopped for speeding by the police with a customer on a journey to Manchester Airport. LA stated that they know the rules about passenger safety from having accrued an 8 year experience as a driver. LA was given 6 points for this offence. This incident occurred one day before LA put in the renewal application and did know if the offence would be endorsed and, for this reason, it was not declared on application. LA explained the background to a previous traffic offence whereby they were told they should have returned to the left hand lane after overtaking. LA had also lost their phone and this had impeded their ability to communicate with the Licensing Unit and LA apologised for this but claimed there was no intention to deceive.

In summing up, the Licensing Unit Officer reiterated the offences and lack of disclosure on LA’s behalf.

LA did not sum up their case.

The Hearing Panel concluded that LA had failed to disclose matters on application for a second time and that the offence fell within the guidelines and therefore considered that some form of penalty should be handed down so that LA would understand that these types of offences do not go unpunished.

Decision

To suspend LA’s licence up until the date of their renewal, 21 June 2024.