Agenda and minutes

Cllr Boyes gave her apologies.

There were none.

These must be received no later than 12 noon on the fifth working day before the date of the meeting

There were none.

To approve the minutes of the last meetings held on 3 March and 9 June 2021

The minutes of the meetings held on 3 March and 9 June 2021 were approved.

To approve the minutes of the meetings of :

·         the Licensing Sub Committee Alcohol and Gambling Committee held on 3 March 2021 and 22 June 2021

and

·         the Licensing Sub Committee Miscellaneous held on 7^th April 2021, 28^th April 2021 and 7^th July 2021

The minutes of the Licensing Alcohol and Gambling Sub-Committees held on 3 March and 22 June 2021 were approved and the minutes of the Licensing Miscellaneous Sub-Committees held on 7 April, 28 April and 7 July 2021 were also approved.

Mr Khalid Mahmood – HCD205

The Licensing Team Leader introduced the report. Mr Khalid Mahmood holds Hackney Carriage Driver’s licence HCD205 and has been licensed since 2018.

On 4 August 2021 Mr Mahmood reported to the Authority that he had received notice that 3 penalty points were to be imposed on his DVLA driving licence for a speeding offence, bringing his total number of points to 9. Details of the offences were attached as background papers. In light of the offences and the information provided, the matter was being referred to the Licensing Committee to allow Members the opportunity to consider whether Mr Mahmood was a fit and proper person to hold a licence.

In response to a Member question, the Licensing Team Leader confirmed that Mr Mahmood had advised the authority within the required 7 days and that the apparent delay was an administrative one.

Mr Mahmood addressed the Committee.  He said he could not justify the points and could only apologise. 

Member questions:

In response to Member questions Mr Mahmood responded as follows:

•               The first two offences were on the A40 road works where a different speed limit was in place.  He was caught by camera at 2am. The last offence occurred when he was taking his son to the airport and he was caught by a mobile camera so incurred points.

•           He had not undertaken a speed awareness course

•               He could not defend the speed he was driving at but had informed the Council that he had been penalised with 3 points. The Licensing Officer confirmed this but did not know the actual speed he had been driving at.

Member debate

Members raised the following points:

•               That members had been lenient on points relating to the roadworks on the A40 in the past.  This should therefore be considered when looking at his first two sets of points.

•           They questioned by how much he was speeding as that was not apparent; although had it been by a significant margin he would have lost his licence. The committee focus was to decide if Mr Mahmood was a safe and proper person to drive a taxi and to ensure public safety. It would be for the court to remove his driving licence if there were further speeding offences.

•           Revocation of the licence was deemed to be disproportionate as there were mitigating factors as Mr Mahmood had reported these offences to the Council himself, which many drivers did not. 

•           Members considered the options as outlined in para 1.4.2

•           They noted that all 9 points had been accrued since 2018 . Mr Mahmood appeared to be saying he was unaware of where the cameras were located rather than staying within the defined speed limits so an enhanced driving test within 2 months seemed to be the appropriate option in this case.

The Chair proposed:

•               To issue a  written warning

•               To do a private hire driving test within 2 months

•               Delegation to officers

•               To consider  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Report of Licensing Team Leader

The Licensing Team Leader presented the paper.  There was no further comment.

Report of Licensing Team Leader

The Licensing Team Leader presented the paper.  There was no further action required.

There were none.

The committee is recommended to approve the following resolution:-

“That in accordance with Section 100A(4) Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the remaining agenda items as it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public are present there will be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2, Part (1) Schedule (12A) Local Government Act 1972, namely:

Paragraph 1; Information relating to any individual

Paragraph 2; Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual

The committee approved the following resolution:-

“That in accordance with Section 100A(4) Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the remaining agenda items as it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, if members of the public are present there will be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2, Part (1) Schedule (12A) Local Government Act 1972, namely:

Paragraph 1; Information relating to any individual

Paragraph 2; Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual

To approve the exempt minutes of the meetings of :

·         the Licensing Sub Committee Alcohol and Gambling Committee held on 3 March 2021

and

·         the Licensing Sub Committee Miscellaneous held on 28^th April 2021

The exempt minutes of the Licensing Alcohol and Gambling Sub-Committee held on 3 March 2021 and of the Licensing Miscellaneous Sub-Committee held on 28 April 2021 were approved.

3 November 2021

Wednesday 3 November 2021.