Agenda and minutes

As a Councillor, you are reminded of the requirements under the Council’s Code of Conduct to register interests and to disclose interests in a meeting. You should refer to the requirements set out in the Code of Conduct which are summarised in the notes at the end of this agenda frontsheet.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair will read the following statement:

The report contains information which the officer recommends should be exempt from publication and also that the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the appeal, in accordance with the provisions of Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act).

The Chair will ask the Sub-Committee the following:

Does the Licensing Appeals Sub-Committee agree that the public interest is outweighed by the recommendation to exclude the press and public for this agenda item?

The press and public were excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business in accordance with the provisions of Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A (as amended) of the Act).

The Chair of the Sub-Committee will welcome those present and introduce him/herself; the remaining members of the Sub-Committee and the officers will then introduce themselves.

A copy of the Sub-Committee appeals procedure is attached.

The Chair introduced panel members and officers and explained the procedure for the hearing.

The sub-committee heard representations from the appellant and Licensing Officer, based on the written report.

The Sub-Committee decided on the balance of probabilities to approve the refusal of a Private Hire Driver licence to the appellant.

Reasons:

In making its decision the sub-committee considered the following:

·       Statutory provisions: S51,61 & 77 Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions Act) 1976

·       Statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards issued by the Department of Transport in July 2020

·       South Cambridgeshire District Council Private Hire and Taxi Policy

·       Report of the Licensing Officer

·       Advice from the Council’s legal adviser

·       Evidence as referred to above.

The sub-committee made its decision for the following reasons:

·       The appellant had not declared the conviction of battery on his application form.

·       The appellant had not declared the Private Hire Driver licence that he held with a previous authority.

·       The appellant did not accept that taking a customer’s mobile phone is theft and tried to excuse the behaviour by comparing it to a security for the future payment of a fare.

·       The appellant’s oral evidence given to the Sub-Committee did not correlate with his written witness statement.

·       The above points demonstrated a lack of honesty and the Sub-Committee decided that the appellant was not a fit and proper person to hold a Private Hire Driver licence.