Agenda item

To determine a private hire/hackney carriage driver’s licence.

Item eight was brought forward in proceedings at the request of the driver in relation to this item.

The Chairman introduced the Panel and explained procedure to the driver.

The Panel considered the Enforcement Officer’s report.

Members were asked to consider whether the driver remained a fit and proper person to hold a licence as he had breached three criteria of the Council’s licensing standards: failure to notify the Council of his change in address; failure to notify the Council of his conviction; and receiving six penalty points for a single offence.

The driver said his former employer had deliberately not informed him of the DVLA correspondence to ensure he could not go and work for a competitor. He said he could not provide his change of residence as he had moved in with a friend following his eviction and part of that agreement was he would not use the address. He also said he was unaware that he was required to inform the Council of a change of address within seven days of the move.

The Chairman asked whether the driver had read the ‘Green Book’ of rules that Uttlesford provided for drivers.

The driver said he had not.

At 12.00pm, the panel retired to make its decision.

At 12.15pm, the panel returned.

The Chairman read out the decision.

Decision:

The application before the Panel today is for the suspension or revocation of the driver’s joint private hire/hackney carriage licence number PH/HC0696 dated 10^th August 2016, in accordance with S61  (1) (b) Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.- any other reasonable cause. The three year licence is due to expire on 31^st July 2019. We understand he currently works for West End Cars, having been dismissed from his employment with Happicabs in May 2018 as hereinafter appears.

The Council received an email on 10 May 2018, from the director of Happicabs, to advise that they had dismissed the driver after discovering that he had received six penalty points on his licence for a single offence. A subsequent Drivercheck of the driver’s licence on 06 July 2018 as part of the due diligence process revealed six current penalty points endorsed in respect of an MS90 (failure to give information as to identity of driver) which took place on 28 September 2017. The driver was convicted on 28 November 2017. The driver did not notify the Council of this conviction and is therefore in breach of his private hire/hackney carriage driver’s licence (Condition 18c) for which he is yet to be sanctioned. I return to this later.

The driver attended a meeting with the Council’s Enforcement Officer on 23 July 2018. The driver explained that he moved from Flat 20, Thorndon Court, Great Warley, Brentwood over a year ago after he was evicted, and has been staying with friends for the past year.   He never informed the DVLA, Happicabs or the Council of this change in circumstance. He moved to his current address at the beginning of June 2018. This failure too is a breach of Licensing Standards.

In relation to the offence which led to the conviction, the driver believes that this was initially for an offence of speeding. The driver stated that when Happicabs responded to the DVLA to state that the driver was driving the vehicle at the time of the offence, Happicabs did not notify the driver so he did not know he had committed an offence and was unaware of the penalty points that had been issued.   The driver explained that he left Happicabs around April 2018, and worked as a care assistant before going home to Romania. On returning to the UK a month later he started working for West End Cars.

As a result of receiving six penalty points for a single offence, the driver no longer meets the Council’s Licensing Standards for drivers. Paragraph 2 of Appendix A thereof states:

“No convictions or fixed penalty notices endorsed on a driver’s licence within the last three years where six or more points have been endorsed in respect of a single offence.”

Furthermore, licensed drivers are required by conditions 18 a and c respectively of Appendix G of the Standards to notify UDC in writing of:-

“Any change of address within seven days of the change of address occurring”

“Any convictions, cautions or fixed penalty notices…within 7 days of the conviction, caution or the issue of a fixed penalty notice.”

Ignorance of the Council’s requirements is no defence: all licensed drivers receive a copy of the Green Book setting out their obligations and those obligations are personal to them. Their employer is not obliged to secure their compliance to the extent they have no personal responsibility.

We have read the papers before us and we have listened to what the driver has had to say.  He has told us of a dispute with Happicabs, but he also admits to not having read the Council’s Green Book or to familiarising himself with his obligations.

These are serious matters when taken together and it is the consistent failure to notify either the Council or his employers that has tipped the balance. The primary function of this Committee is the protection of the public and we consider that we have no alternative but to revoke the driver’s licence under S61 (b) of the 1976 Act as he is no longer a fit and proper person to hold it.

There is a right of appeal against this decision which must be exercised within a period of 21 days and during this period the licence remains in force.  The driver will receive a letter from the Legal Department explaining this.