Issue - meetings

Review of Private Hire & Hackney Carriage Driver Licence

Meeting: 28/09/2021 - Licensing and Environmental Health Committee (Item 17)

Review of Private Hire & Hackney Carriage Driver Licence

To determine a review of a Private Hire & Hackney Carriage Driver Licence.

Additional documents:

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Minutes:

The Senior Licensing and Compliance Officer gave a summary of his report which requested that members determine a review of the applicant’s Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Driver Licence.

 

The driver addressed the Panel and confirmed that they had visited Council Depot for a vehicle compliance test, however denied making any of the alleged comments during and after the inspection.

 

In response to questions for the Panel, the driver said that it was the first time that they had visited the depot and they had never met the technician before so was unaware of any reason why the technician would have made the allegations against him.

 

The driver explained that the technician had not informed him of any of the faults and advisories on his vehicle, saying that he would pass the information onto his manager instead, who would then pass it on to the Council. Following the visit, the driver said that he contacted the Licensing department at Uttlesford District Council to say that he did not know if he had passed or failed the inspection and when he received an email from Senior Licensing and Compliance Officer to inform him that the vehicle had failed, he took it straight for repair. He confirmed that he had used T and R Auto Repairs as his garage of choice since he was granted his license in 2012.

 

The Solicitor clarified that the witness statement was made under Section 9 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967, whereby it is a legal document and contains  a statement of truth. Should the technician have given false evidence, it would be punishable as perjury.

 

The meeting adjourned between 11:20 – 11:46 for the Panel to deliberate.

 

DECISION NOTICE:

 

The matter before the Panel today is an application for the review of Mr Khan’s joint hackney carriage/PHV driver’s licence reference PH/HC0565. Since Mr Khan is an owner/driver, we may also need to consider vehicle licence reference number HCV014 dependent on our decision today.

 

We have had the opportunity of reading the officer’s report in this case, a copy of which has been served on Mr Khan, and we have also seen, as has he, the background documents annexed thereto including the list of vehicle defects and the written statements of Mr Cutter, the vehicle technician involved.  In reaching our decision we have also taken into account national and the Council’s policy and have heard from the Case Officer and from Mr Khan. We also understand that the Police are, or have been,  involved in this matter since it involves, inter alia, allegations of dishonesty.

 

The facts of the case are straightforward. On 17 June 2021, Hackney Carriage Vehicle HCV014 underwent a vehicle compliance test at the Uttlesford District Council Depot in Saffron Walden, following a request made by Licensing Officers for a repeat test due to concerns over the numbers of advisories listed on the prior test which was taken at an independent testing station on 11 June 2021. The Hackney Carriage vehicle, owned by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17