Agenda item

To consider whether the individual should have their private

hire/hackney carriage driver’s licence suspended or revoked.

The Panel and Officers present introduced themselves to the driver.

The Licensing Support Officer gave a summary of her report which requested that Members determine whether the applicant is considered ‘fit and proper’ to be granted a Private Hire Driver licence with this Authority

The driver confirmed:

·       The omission of the three penalty points on her driver application form was a genuine mistake and noted that when she received the fixed penalty she wasn’t asked to surrender her license for the points to be added.

·       She forgot to notify the District Council that she had received the three penalty points, partly due to the pressure she was under whilst supporting elderly parents who had Covid at the time.

·       Driving was her sole income and she has had to borrow money during the period she has not been driving, awaiting the result of this hearing.

·       She noted that her license would have been renewed if she had notified the District Council of the penalty points.

·        She again apologised to the Panel.

In response to questions from Members the driver confirmed that she did not realise that she was being allocated penalty points alongside the fine, particularly as she did not have to send her license off for endorsement.

The driver left the meeting at 11:39am and the meeting was adjourned; the Panel retired to make its decision.

The driver rejoined the meeting at 12:08pm and the meeting reconvened.

The Chair read the driver the decision notice.

The driver left the meeting at 12:10pm.

DECISION NOTICE

The matter before the Panel today is an application for the renewal of the HC/PHV driver’s licence held by the driver. She is employed by 24 x 7 Ltd as a Home to School Transport (HtST) driver.

We have had the opportunity of reading the officer’s report in this case, a copy of which has been served on the driver, and we have also seen, as has she, the background documents annexed thereto and we have had the opportunity of hearing from the Case Officer and from the driver

Briefly, the documents submitted alongside the renewal application, a copy of which is before us, shows that the driver acquired 3 points on her DVLA licence for a TS10 on 30^th April 2021.  Unfortunately, she failed to declare this information on her application form.  The Rehabilitation of Offenders regime does not apply to the licensing of HC/PHV drivers. Question 4 of the UDC application form clearly asks “Do you have any endorsements on your DVLA Licence” the box ticked is “No” (copy attached).  The UDC application form also clearly states that “You must include all Driving Licence Endorsements within the last 7 years”.

Clause 2.3 of the Council’s Driver Conditions policy states as follows:-

“Any dishonesty by any applicant or other person on the applicant’s behalf which is discovered to have occurred in any part of any application process (eg failure to declare convictions, false names or addresses, falsified references) will result in a licence being refused, or if already granted, revoked and may result in prosecution”

Furthermore Condition 19c of an Uttlesford HC/PHV drivers’ licence clearly states the following:-

“Drivers will

Notify UDC in writing of…

c) Any convictions, cautions or fixed penalty notices within 7 days of the date of conviction, caution of the issue of a fixed penalty notice”

Taken together these requirements are clear and the only explanation the driver was able to offer the Licensing Department was that she had forgotten the point. A copy of her email to them is included in the papers before us.

We have heard from the Case Officer and from the driver. She explained that she had received a letter from the Court which she did not read properly: she just paid the fine and did not appreciate that she had also received penalty points and as a consequence did not notify the Council. She understands that she is before us because she did not notify us, and her existing licence expired on 28^th February: she has not worked or earned for well over a month and has had to borrow money in order to live.

However, the primary function of this Committee is the protection of the travelling public. The legislation makes this clear as does the case law and all authority in the area. Our role is to determine whether or not an applicant is a fit and proper person to hold a HC/PHV licence and if we consider that she is not, then our duty is clear – we should refuse the application.

We have heard what the driver has had to say. She is not before us today because she has acquired three points on her DVLA licence, she is here because she did not tell us and that raises questions as to probity. We find it difficult to believe that she did not know that she had points on her driving licence though the requirement to submit a paper counterpart for physical endorsement is long since repealed, and we also note that she was under considerable personal stress at the time. We also note that she has not worked for some seven weeks and has incurred personal debts which will not doubt take her some time to repay. We have taken this into account.

If the driver were the holder of a current licence and was before us for a review, we would have been minded to deal with her by way of a period of suspension. Her failure to disclose the penalty points is a serious matter and could not have gone unsanctioned.

However, it has considerably delayed the issue of a new licence and the cost to her of this delay will in the circumstances of this case serve as a sanction: a suspension would have been for less than the seven weeks she has been prevented from driving and hence earning We note her contrition and are therefore prepared to renew her  licence but would urge her to read the Council’s conditions of licence, and do not expect ever to see her before us again.

The meeting concluded at 12:11pm.