Agenda item

To determine a private hire/hackney carriage drivers’ licence.

The driver in relation to Item 6 was not present and had given no notice that he intended to attend.

The Enforcement Officer gave a summary of the report.

The Council required all drivers to undergo an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and group 2 medical when they apply for a licence and then every three years after that. The driver’s enhanced DBS check, group 2 medical and DVLA mandate had expired and the driver had not responded to attempts by the Council to contact him.

DECISION NOTICE

The application before the Panel today is for the suspension or revocation of the driver’s joint private hire/hackney carriage licence no PH/HC1226 in accordance with S61  (1) (b) Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.- any other reasonable cause. He has been licenced in Uttlesford since 19^th June 2015 and his current licence is due to expire on 31^st May 2019.

His last known address for licensing purposes does not correspond with the one held by other departments of the Council for other purposes and we note in passing that this amounts to a breach of the notification provisions required by paragraph 18a of Appendix G of the Council’s Licensing Standards for Drivers, which require written notification of a move within seven days.

The Council requires all drivers to undergo a group 2 medical examination, enhanced DBS check, and to provide a DVLA mandate to allow annual scrutiny of driving records when they apply for a licence and every three years after that.   These checks assist the Council in establishing whether an individual is a ‘fit and proper’ person to hold a licence. The driver has not supplied any of these documents and his last medical certificate and DBS check expired on 31^st May 2018.

Normal practice at UDC is to send out reminder letters for medical certificates on the 15^th day of the month preceding the expiry of that check. DBS check reminders are sent out on the first working day of the month of expiry.

The driver was formally contacted in writing at his current address by the Enforcement Officer on 28^th December 2018 was then told that if he wanted to remain licensed then he must provide all three documents by 16^th January 2019. He has not done so. Condition 12 of Appendix A of the Council’s Licensing Standards requires drivers to meet “…Group 2 medical standards as published by the Dept of Transport.”

Compliance with this standard is a legal requirement, and without a certificate we have no means of knowing whether this requirement is satisfied. This Committee considers that failure to provide an up to date medical certificate, DBS check  and DVLA mandate is a breach of Council policy; the checks are vital to establish that a driver is medically fit enough to drive, and has not received motoring penalties or convictions.

Lacking that information, and mindful of the paramount importance of public safety, we are not satisfied the driver is a fit and proper person to hold hackney carriage and private hire licences  and therefore revoke them, with immediate effect. We also note the failure to notify the change of residential address.

The driver has a right of appeal against this decision to the Magistrates Court, and that any such appeal must be lodged within 21 days. Normally, the revocation would come into effect following the end of the appeal period, but since the revocation is because of failure to supply a medical certificate in the interests of public safety, this period of grace will not apply. He will receive a letter from the Legal Department explaining this.