Agenda item

To determine a Private Hire Drivers Licence.

The Chairman brought Item 5 forward in the proceedings.

The procedure for determining private hire drivers’ licences was read to the applicant. The Committee considered the report of the Licensing Officer.

The driver said that at the time of the crimes he had been charged for, he was very young and was in with a bad crowd. It was unfortunate, but he was not that person anymore. He had two children now, and had had to give up work to look after his wife. Becoming a taxi driver would get him out the house for two and a half hours a day. He was not quite at retirement age yet.

At 10:15, the Committee withdrew to make its determination.

At 10:20, the Committee returned.

DECISION:

The application before the Panel today is one dated 3^rd October 2017 for the grant of a joint private hire/hackney carriage licence. If successful, the driver hopes to drive for 24 x &Ltd of Stansted, doing school contract work.

We have seen a detailed report together with supporting documentation which is listed herewith:-

a.    Uttlesford District Council licensing standards for drivers.

b.    The driver’s application form for the grant of a joint private hire/hackney carriage driver’s licence dated 03/10/2017.

c.    The driver’s Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check dated 17 October 2017.

d.    Notes from interview with the driver on 27 October 2017.

When the driver attended at the Council’s offices to complete the Right to Work formalities he brought with him an enhanced DBS certificate dated 17^th October 2017 bespoken by Essex County Council. This revealed the following matters:-

As a result of these matters, the driver does not meet paragraph 5 of Appendix A of the Council’s Licensing Standards for Drivers. 

This states:-

“No criminal convictions for an offence of dishonesty, indecency or violence in respect of which a custodial sentence (including a suspended custodial sentence) was imposed.”

He was spoken to by the Licensing Officer straight away. In particular he was asked about the July 1972 custodial sentence imposed by Woodford Crown Court.  He explained that his upbringing had been along military lines and that when they were 15 years old he and his four brothers were expected to fend for themselves. Both he and his elder brother found themselves in trouble with the police: they had no fixed abode and found themselves in bad company. With three other boys, the driver stole a car and they went joyriding; as the eldest of the group he received the heaviest sentence.

On release, the driver obtained an apprenticeship in a shipyard where he remained until the business closed in 1984. He then worked off-shore for 15 years until family responsibilities called him home, and since then he has been self employed as a plumber. He now has caring responsibilities and requires part time work.

His driving licence is clean and he has no convictions since 1976. Though he is a rehabilitated person in respect of all these offences under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, this legislation does not apply to all scenarios, and included among these is the holding of Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Drivers licences.

We have heard from the driver, and we appreciate how he has turned his life around and is the mainstay of his family. We do not consider him to be a risk to the public and we therefore regard him as being a fit and proper person to hold Uttlesford District Council licences. Accordingly we grant this application, and he will receive the paperwork in due course.