Issue - meetings

Members considered a report on the suitability of an applicant to be granted  a combined hackney carriage/ private hire drivers licence.  The Licensing Manager highlighted the relevant sections of the report with regards to the reason for calling the meeting and brought Members’ attention to relevant appendices.   

Members confirmed they had no questions in respect of the report.

The Applicant’s Solicitor expressed his concern that evidence relating to some of the latter incidents was merely hearsay and had not been tested.  He also suggested that these matters had been addressed by the Council previously and this fact should have been referenced within the report, which he considered to be bias and prejudicial in its presentation.

The Applicant’s Solicitor was invited to address the Committee, presenting his case and calling the Applicant as a witness, and to offer detailed explanation regarding the allegations and circumstances.

In doing so the Sub-Committee heard how in the Applicant’s Solicitor’s view the majority of the information in the evidence pack was prejudicial, citing to Members what he considered to be the only relevant piece of information contained.

The Applicant’s Solicitor was further of the view that the outcome of any investigation as opposed to the allegation itself was the most relevant factor.  There was no dispute of the evidence found but the committee heard from the Applicant how such technology worked and as such the Applicant’s Solicitor was of the view that any intent had not been proven, resulting in no further action being taken against his client, and nothing formal being placed on his record.

Regarding some of the older allegations, and allegations which the Council had been aware of when originally granting a licence in 2017, the Applicant’s Solicitor submitted these were now so old that they should now not be of concern to the Committee.  Any evidence relating to the more recent allegations, he repeated, was flawed in their presentation and were as a result of untested evidence.  The Committee heard from the applicant his version of events which resulted in him leaving employment, and the fact that these allegations had not been put to him by a previous employer at the time.  The Applicant also advised how it was he who had raised some of the issues with his employer and outlined to the Committee the circumstances.  The Applicant also advised how the Licensing Department had spoken with to him in respect of the contents of the letter from his former employer and had not indicated that this would form a matter of his record of personal conduct.

Returning to the older allegations, the Applicant’s Solicitor again submitted that these were now so old, they should not be considered, furthermore a previous Committee had not considered them enough to not a grant a licence.  Again it was suggested that any evidence relating to new allegations was either flawed, bias or hearsay or had resulted in no proceedings against his client and as such his Client’s position, had not fundamentally  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10